Method and system for automated online allocation of donations

ABSTRACT

In one example, we describe methods and systems for automated online merchant charity donations. In one embodiment, a donation agent interacting with a merchant website can offer an online user an option to allocate at least a portion of a payment for or price of a purchase, associated with a transaction made by the user via the merchant website, to be donated by a merchant corresponding to the merchant website on behalf of the user to a charity of the user&#39;s choosing. If the online user exercises the option, the donation agent can calculate an amount of the donation to be made and store the calculated donation amount in a database. The donation agent can disburse the calculated donation amount to the charity selected by the customer. The method also works for the off-line model. The system and method include authentication and the way the charity funding is distributed, with respect to multiple preference lists and forbidden lists.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to provisional application 61/840,286, filed27, June, 2013. All the teachings of the provisional application areincorporated here by reference.

The current application claims priority to the filing date of theprovisional application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nowadays almost anything can be bought online. In ever-increasingnumbers, merchants are offering goods and services via websites. On atypical merchant website, a customer can navigate the website byentering commands via a computing device that provides a connection andan interface to the website. Using the computing device and theinterface, the customer can, for example, search an inventory, selectgoods or services from the inventory, and add the selected items to avirtual shopping cart. When the customer has finished his or herselections, the customer can go through a check-out process to finalizea purchase of the items in the virtual shopping cart.

The check-out process can be interactive. For example, as part of thecheck-out process, the website can present interface displays, via thecomputing device, that solicit information from the customer, such asthe customer's name, address, phone number, credit card information andthe like. The customer, in response to prompts, dialog boxes and thelike presented via the interface displays, can manipulate the computingdevice to provide requested information. Software responsible for theinterface displays can process the information, either independently incommunication with other software. Processing the information caninclude, for example, generating queries to solicit further information,performing error checking, performing arithmetic and logical operationson information, storing information, retrieving information in responseto queries, and the like.

A company, SocialVest Ventures LLC, in Atlanta, Ga., USA, is in thecharity business (www.socialvest.us). Another site is “www.IGive.com”which is in the same field. However, the inventions and embodimentsdescribed here, below, have not been addressed or presented, in anyprior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to generally to embodiments of methods andsystems for automated online merchant charity donations. Morespecifically, according to the embodiments, a donation agent interactingwith a merchant website can offer an online user an option to allocateat least a portion of a payment for or price of a purchase, associatedwith a transaction made by the user via the merchant website, to bedonated by a merchant corresponding to the merchant website on behalf ofthe user to a charity or charities of the user's choosing. If the onlineuser exercises the option, the donation agent can, in response,calculate an amount of the donation to be made and store the calculateddonation amount in a database.

The donation agent can disburse the calculated donation amount to thecharity or charities selected by the customer. Further, pursuant to anagreement with the merchant corresponding to the merchant website, thedonation agent can bill the merchant for services. The services caninclude, among others, the offering to the user of the donation optionvia the merchant website and the calculating and storing of the donationamount. The services can further include the disbursing of thecalculated donation amount to the charity or charities selected by theuser. The amount billed to the merchant can be predetermined byagreement. The amount billed to the merchant can be, for example, apredetermined percentage of the payment for or price of the purchase.

The arrangement described in the foregoing can be advantageous, amongother reasons, because it can encourage donation to charitable causes.For example, merchants may be motivated to seek the favorable publicityof being associated with charitable causes by way of their websites. Byproviding the interactive donation capability on merchant websites,thereby providing the sought-after favorable publicity, the donationagent can facilitate the linking of e-commerce to the funding ofcharities. The donation agent can also encourage the participation ofmerchants by off-loading from the merchants the tasks of calculating anddisbursing the charitable donations, in exchange for a modest fee.

The term “donation agent” as used herein encompasses at least softwareand machines and/or articles of manufacture that store and execute thesoftware to perform the operations described herein. A donation agentcan also include at least a portion of a network, such as the Web or theInternet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method of consumer/userchoosing a charity for directing donation.

FIG. 2 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user withlogo display.

FIG. 3 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user forchoices for shop by category, shop by merchant, most popular, newmerchants, and the like.

FIG. 4 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user,with picture, for My Profile.

FIG. 5 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user withSparo section display.

FIG. 6 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user, forstore, with logo, with messages about donations, percentages, andtransactions.

FIGS. 7 a-e are for embodiments, as examples, for method for user, tobrowse merchant's website and make a purchase, with donations based onpurchase to select charities before and after the checkout process.

FIG. 8 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for request orcommand using e.g. XML, with user key authorization.

FIG. 9 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for merchantportal, with store name, merchant ID, percentage of charge, store logoand information (which is editable).

FIG. 10 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for merchantportal, for merchant transaction management, with profile, store name,and unique merchant ID number, plus percentage of charge.

FIG. 11 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for charity,with sign up, verification, and granting membership.

FIG. 12 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for charityportal, with donations and disbursement tracking.

FIG. 13 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for charityportal, with donations and disbursement tracking.

FIG. 14 is for one embodiment, as an example, for an interface forcharities, at different levels, or topics, or size, or overhead.

FIG. 15 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface formerchants and shops/stores.

FIG. 16 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for theuser, customized, with menu, logo, picture, and totals.

FIG. 17 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for theuser, for activities for piggy bank, for donation and information.

FIG. 18 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for thepiggy bank, with suggestion to friends.

FIG. 19 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for studentscholarship, with verification step, and initial criteria.

FIG. 20 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for schools anddisbursement of the funds.

FIG. 21 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for ourtuition bank.

FIG. 22 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for tuitionbank categories.

FIG. 23 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for tuitionbank categories.

FIG. 24 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for merchant.

FIGS. 25 a-c are for embodiments, as examples, for system for charitynetwork.

FIG. 26 is for one embodiment, as an example, for system for charitynetwork.

FIG. 27 is for one embodiment, as an example, for system forcharity/tuition bank network.

FIG. 28 is for one embodiment, as an example, for timeline for theprocess for deadlines and actions.

FIG. 29 a shows an example of store website or display or screen. FIG.29 b shows an example of Sparo interface. FIG. 29 c shows an example ofdisplay for returning member (for pop-up, as partial display). FIG. 29 dshows an example of Sparo interface. FIG. 29 e shows an example of Sparointerface, for order complete. FIG. 29 f shows an example of Sparointerface, for donation. FIG. 29 g shows an example of Sparo interface,for donation.

FIG. 30 shows an example of Sparo interface, for donation, for differentlocalities/geographical coverage or scope.

FIG. 31 shows an example of an interface for allocation of funds.

FIG. 32 shows an example of an interface for allocation of funds, frommerchant, piggy bank, or consumer directly, with icons shown.

FIG. 33 shows an example of the Goodwill score, which comes fromdifferent factors.

FIG. 34 shows an example of a method for usage of amount collected forcharity funds, as defaults, and based on deadlines.

FIG. 35 shows an example of a method for reporting usage of amountcollected for charity funds.

FIG. 36 shows an example of a system for student and school verificationand initiation.

FIG. 37 shows an example of an interface for charity, non-profit, ororganization selection.

FIG. 38 shows an example of a system for finding the location of theuser based on various input or parameters.

FIGS. 39 a-b show the non-cash donation examples.

FIG. 40 shows an example of a system for our network/Sparo, withdifferent parties involved.

FIG. 41 shows an example of a method for exclusion of charities orinclusion of favorites, in order.

FIG. 42 shows an example of a system for scheduling or updating fordistribution/allocation for charities.

FIG. 43 a shows an example of a data structure for the organization fortransactions between parties. FIG. 43 b shows an example of a datastructure for the merchant, bank info, merchant percentage, and contactinfo.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Let's start with an example:

Description of donation agent:

Embodiments of the donation agent can provide a charitable service atonline checkouts that allows shoppers to purchase what they like,through sites they already trust, while supporting their favoritecauses. Customers can be twofold—shoppers who currently purchase goodsonline and partner merchants who are enabled to make charitabledonations. Shoppers who “checkout” through the donation agent are ableto have a portion of their purchase donated to a charity of theirchoice. The merchant donates the portion of the purchase for theshopper.

I. Avenues of Charitable Donation

There are at least two avenues in which the charitable giving can bedone, in this example. One avenue includes embedding of the donationagent into the website of the merchant as another option for checkout. Asecond avenue includes providing an independent website that acts as anagent and drives member customers to the merchants' sites that areparticipating in charitable programs facilitated by the donation agent.The independent website also allows members to track their donationactivities and donate directly to charities without having to make apurchase.

Note that “we” or “our network” or “donation network” or “Sparo” or “ourweb site” or “our system” refers to the donation agent/website/network.When referring to charities in this disclosure, the reference includenon-profit organizations, as well.

A user performing a transaction via a merchant website can see, in adisplay of the merchant website associated with the transaction, avirtual “shopping cart” containing an item or items to be purchased bythe user. The user can subsequently perform operations facilitated bythe merchant website to finalize the transaction. For example, theoperations can include the known “checkout” process.

During the operations to finalize the transaction, operations by thedonation agent can be invoked. The operations by the donation agent caninclude presenting, via a display, a list of selectable charities. Thedisplay can be by way of a display device associated with a computingdevice linked, for example via a network, to the merchant website. Inresponse to an input indicating a choice of charity from the selectablelist, the donation agent can automatically capture informationassociated with the transaction. The information can be captured by a“back-end” associated with the donation agent. Here, “back-end”encompasses at least software for processing the information, machinesfor executing the software, storage devices for storing the capturedinformation, and portions of a network for linking the machines and thestorage devices.

In particular, the donation agent can automatically calculate and storean amount of a charitable donation to be made to the selected charitybased on the transaction. The amount of the charitable donation can be avariable amount, a fixed amount, an amount selected from a range ofoptions, and the like. For example, the donation agent can calculate apredetermined percentage of a purchase price or payment associated withthe transaction as the amount of the charitable donation, or based onthe income level of the user, or based on the prior donations, orhistory, or preferences, or question/answer, or personal folder/data, orgift certificate, or proxy donation by friends or family or on aperson's behalf, or anonymous. Or, it can be based on season or day ofthe calendar, e.g. Earth's Day, somebody's birthday, triggered by anevent, Father's Day, July 4^(th), Independence Day, or periodicallyapplied, or formulated, or by an equation, or from a table or list, orfrom a curve or diagram, or randomly generated donation value and/ordate.

After the foregoing operations, the donation agent can bill (e.g.,transmit an invoice to) the merchant associated with the merchantwebsite for services performed by the donation agent. The amount billedto the merchant can be, for example, a predetermined fraction,percentage or share of the purchase price or payment associated with thetransaction, or a fixed value, or a value with a min. amount, or a valuewith a max. amount, or a step-wise formula, or graduated amount withsteps, or linear relationship, or quadratic relationship, or apolynomial relationship, or closed-form formula, or open-form formula,or linear relationship with a cap and/or min., or rounded number, ortruncated number, or from a table or list, or step function, orlogarithmic function, or exponential function, or n-th power function ofa variable, or a value from a range of numbers, or an integer value, ora real value, or random number, or a predetermined number, or based on arule, based on a rule engine, based on if-then rules, based onconditions, or the like.

Further, the donation agent can disburse the amount of the charitabledonation to the selected charity as part of services billed to themerchant. The billing and disbursement can be performed by the donationagent, for example, after payment pursuant to the transaction is madeand verified.

The operations facilitated by the donation agent can further includepresenting, via an interactive display, an option for a user to make anadditional donation, beyond the amount automatically calculated asdescribed in the foregoing. The additional donation can be from theuser's personal funds, for example. The donation agent can furtherpresent an option for the user to become a member of a charitableprogram facilitated by the donation agent. In response to user inputindicating that the user wants to exercise the option, the donationagent can enable the user to navigate to an independent websitegenerated and supported by the donation agent, as described in moredetail further on.

In non-limiting embodiments, the donation agent can include a charityapplication for each of known e-commerce platforms (e.g., Magento,OsCommerce . . . etc.), for example. Participating merchants canincorporate a charity application on respective websites, to be invokedduring, e.g., the check-out process similar to PayPal. “Charityapplication” as used here encompasses at least software that iscustomized or customizable to various e-commerce platforms and/orwebsites, and executable by a computing device to perform operationsdescribed herein. The charity applications could be customized for eachof several existing ecommerce platforms, for example, or could bedesigned from scratch where needed. The donation agent can include APIs(Application Programming Interfaces) for various charity applicationsthat can facilitate customization.

A. Framework development—Software Installation & Implementation.

In various non-limiting embodiments, features of the donation agent caninclude:

1. Shopping Cart framework and Ecommerce platform development

2. Product & Catalogue Management

3. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System

4. CMS (Content Management System)

5. Customer Subscriptions management

B. Catalogue & Product Detail Customization:

The donation agent can include at least two product types:

1. Subscription (For Clients B2B)—This is for, e.g., on-line e-commercesites

2. Charity Management system: List of Charities and assignments to B2BClients. Similar to Categories and Products the donation agent caninclude a complete section for Charities and related programs. Thissection can allow adding Charities, managing Charity pages and otherspecifications, which can be completely customizable.

C. Custom Website Template Design—Donation Agent Website.

D. Content & Product Upload to donation agent website.

Uploading content pages and website functionality including content fromCharities and their Logos.

E. Social Network Tools and Implementation.

F. Application Programming Interface (API) Design.

The donation agent can include a Charity API for clients to use forcustom deployment of a donation agent charity application onto theirwebsite. This can require secure authentication with encryption,placement of order and other activity in order to calculate donations.This can allow website backend and process the charities functionalityand contributions.

G. Application Add-on for eCommerce Platforms—e.g., Magento

H. Application Add-on for eCommerce Platforms—e.g., OsCommerce

I. Automated Emails system

K. On-Page SEO Implementation

L. eCommerce Analytics Implementation

II. Donation Agent Application and Website:

Information That Can Be Captured:

A. FROM MERCHANT'S SITE: (Application)

Sufficient information to allow accounting for every transaction andprovide more information on the transaction when needed.

For example, the following information:

1. Merchant Name (Assign an I.D., e.g.)

2. Order Confirmation Number/Transaction Number

3. First Name of customer

4. Last Name of customer

5. Member username, if applicable/logged in

6. Date and time of transaction

7. Amount of the purchase before taxes

8. Merchant Donation Value (e.g., calculated based on the agreedpercentage)

9. Customer Donation Value (e.g., additional donation made by thecustomer)

10. Organization/Charity Selected

B. FROM REGISTERED MEMBER: (Website)

The donation agent can solicit the following information, for example,from persons who wish to become members of the independent donationagent website:

To sign-up:

1. First Name

2. Last Name

3. E-mail

4. Password

C. Further information to collect for Profile: (optional to the member)

1. Favorite Charities

2. Favorite Merchants

3. Birthday

4. Male/Female

D. FROM CHARITY: (Submitting their request to sign up to the donationagent website)

1. Name of Charity

2. Brief Description (for splash page, e.g.)

3. Projects or fundraising needs (can go on splash page)

4. General Number

5. Main Address

6. Official Website

7. Contact Name

8. Contact Position in Charity

9. Contact E-mail

10. Contact Number

11. Contact Office Address

12. ACH Direct Deposit (if applicable)

13. Category of Charity

E. FROM MERCHANT: (Downloading the donation agent application from theWebsite to embed in their website)

1. Name of Merchant

2. Category of Merchant (Electronics, Clothing, Specialty Food, etc.)

3. Official Address

4. Official Website

5. Billing Address

6. Contact Person

7. Contact Position

8. E-mail

9. Number

10. Contact Office Address

11. Contact Person #2

12. E-mail #2

13. Number #2

14. Contact Office Address #2

Embodiments of methods and systems for automated online merchant charitydonations via the donation agent described in the preceding can includethe following:

Software to implement the donation agent can execute in association witha merchant website. The software can generate interface displays on adisplay device, for example. The interface displays can accept inputsfrom a user entered via a computing device connected to a network suchas the Internet, for example.

For example, the user may access a merchant website via the Internet,navigate the merchant website and execute one or more transactions toculminate in one or more purchases having a total purchase price.Pursuant to the purchase(s), functionality for collecting payment of thepurchase price from the user may be invoked by the merchant website. Forexample, the functionality can be the regular “checkout” process.

In non-limiting embodiments, the software to implement the donationagent can be invoked in connection with the checkout process. Morespecifically, as part of the checkout process, the software can issue aninvitation to a user to have a merchant corresponding to the merchantwebsite donate a portion of the purchase price or payment for thepurchase to a selected charity or charities. The portion of the purchaseprice or payment to be donated by the merchant can be an agreed-on(e.g., between the merchant and the donation agent) percentage of thepurchase price or payment, for example. The invitation can be in form ofa pop-up box or other graphical display, for example, containing text,images and fields for accepting input. Based on an input or inputssupplied in response to the invitation, the software can perform anumber of operations.

For example, the software can offer a selection from any or all of alocal charity or charities, a state charity or charities, a nationalcharity or charities, an international charity or charities, or othercharity or charities. To provide a list of selectable local charities,for example, the software can solicit entry of a zip code. Based on anentered zip code, the software can, for example, search a database ordatabases to identify corresponding charities, and return acorresponding list for display via the interface.

For example, if a response to the invitation indicates acceptance of theinvitation, the software can collect information associated with the oneor more transactions executed on the merchant website. The informationcan include, for example, the information as shown above. The softwarecan perform calculations based on the information, and store both theinformation and calculated results in a machine-readable storage device,such as a volatile memory coupled to a processor and/or a bulk,non-volatile memory such as disk storage on a server.

In particular, for example, the software can calculate and store themerchant donation value as shown above. Further, the software canfacilitate disbursement of the merchant donation value to the selectedcharity or charities, and bill the merchant based on an agreement withthe merchant.

In non-limiting embodiments, the software can offer the user an optionto donate to a selected charity or charities from the user's personalfunds, as shown above.

In non-limiting embodiments, software for the donation agent can beimplemented in the form of a downloadable “plug-in” to a merchantwebsite. The plug-in can be fully customizable to each individualmerchant website's requirements. The plug-in could be automaticallyinvoked during a check-out process for a merchant website, as describedin the foregoing. The donation agent, however, is not limited in thisrespect and could be invoked at the merchant website on demand, forexample, or automatically invoked by or during operations other thancheck-out.

The donation agent can further supply functionality to cause themerchant website to be exited in response to user input, and adifferent, independent website associated with the donation agent(hereafter, “independent website”) to be entered. The independentwebsite can also be otherwise accessed, that is without necessarilyfirst entering a merchant website. For example, a user can log directlyinto the independent website.

In any event, the donation agent can execute security-related operationseither in connection with logging into the independent website or inresponse to being invoked via a merchant website. In particular, ifinvoked via a merchant website, the donation agent can create a securesession within another secure session. More specifically, a checkoutsession of a merchant website is typically secure. Therefore, becausethe donation agent can be invoked and executed within the checkoutsession, performing security-related operations associated with its owndonation-related session while executing within the checkout session,the donation agent can create a secure session within another securesession.

The software for implementing the donation agent can generate andsupport the independent website. The independent website can generateand support a plurality of interface displays. One non-limiting exampleof such an interface display is a login webpage. The login webpage caninclude input fields for accepting user input, such as login andpassword information of registered members of the independent website,and information as shown above, for registering new members. The loginpage can also include a logo of the donation agent. Some of these areshown in the Figures.

Any person or entity can be a member of the independent website and/or aparticipant in a charitable program(s) associated with the donationagent. For example, merchants and charities can be registered members ofthe independent website and/or participants in the charitableprogram(s). Individuals, such as customers of member merchants, can beregistered members of the independent website and/or participants in thecharitable program(s).

The independent website can generate and support another interfacedisplay. The webpage can include fields responsive to user input, suchas a navigation field listing items selectable by, e.g., clicking with auser input device such as a mouse or touchpad, a search field to acceptsearch terms for, e.g., searching for charities to which to donate, afield providing for selectable options to query, e.g., an amount oftotal donations to date and total donations for the current week, as arunning sum or averages or typical data or goals or percentage ofgoals/amounts achieved so far, a field showing a running total ofdonations compared to a threshold or target donation total, a fieldshowing selectable banners or logos of member merchants (e.g., merchantsparticipating in the charitable program(s) and subscribing to servicesof the donation agent), where, e.g., clicking on a banner causesnavigating to the corresponding merchant's website, a field showingselectable banners or logos of member charities (e.g., charitiesparticipating in the charitable program(s) and subscribing to servicesof the donation agent), where, e.g., clicking on a banner causesnavigating to the corresponding charity's website, and a field showingvarious selectable options for navigating to or invoking other featuresof the independent website.

The independent website can generate and support still another interfacedisplay. The webpage can correspond to a member's personal account, andtherefore, display a personal identifier such as a user's image and/orname (“Christine”). The webpage can further display informationconcerning the user's personal record of donations. The information caninclude, for example, an amount of total donations to date by the user,a weekly total of donations and a current amount in the user's personalaccount for charity, or “charity bank.” The user's personal charity bankaccount (also, e.g., “piggy bank”) can be funded, for example, by auser's personal donations as described previously, or by merchantdonations directed by the user to the piggy bank. The charge/money canbe from a credit card, debit card, credit line, cash, checking account,foreign currency, regular periodic salary, direct deposit, wire, cashiercheck, fund backed by the bank, government securities, regular stock,third party authorized account, from somebody's will or trust orinheritance, or other funding sources.

The webpage can also offer selectable navigation or donation options.For example, in response to clicking on the “SHOP MORE” button thedonation agent software can enable the user to navigate to one or moremerchant websites. In response to clicking on the “DONATE FROM PIGGYBANK” button the donation agent software can enable the user to donatepart or all of the user's charity bank account to a selected charity viaservices of the donation agent.

The donation agent can facilitate accumulation of funds in the user'spersonal piggy bank over time, and then disbursement of an amount of theaccumulated funds at a time of the user's choosing, or it can get thefund at some time in future, per calendar setting and user's choice,e.g. 1^(st) day of the month, automatic withdrawal from the checkingaccount. In more detail, in addition to the functionality of thedonation agent described previously, the donation agent can furtherenable a user to direct a merchant's donation, calculated or specifiedpursuant to a transaction via a merchant website, to the user's piggybank. Additionally or alternatively, the donation agent can enable theuser to direct a personal donation to the user's piggy bank. To thisend, the donation agent can generate and support one or more interactiveinterfaces along lines discussed previously. Thus, the donation agentcan enable donations that are substantially immediate or donations thatare discretionary. The substantially immediate donations can besubstantially immediate in the sense that they are automaticallycalculated and allocated to a charity or charities for disbursement bythe donation agent after a transaction on a merchant website. Thediscretionary donations can be discretionary in the sense that they canaccumulate over time in the user's piggy bank, and then be disbursed ata time and to a charity or charities of the user's choosing. Thedonation agent can facilitate safeguards to ensure that funds in thepiggy bank are used for charitable purposes.

The security, biometrics, certification of approval, PKI, encryption,and password can be used for authentication and validation. Thecharities can be approved by IRS, government, third-party, independentagents, or rated by people. The charities' overhead and types of fundusage or transparencies are also listed for users' review, e.g., as aportal for charities or comparison table, or can be searchable fortopics, emphasis, goals, location, budget, overhead percentage, andrating, by the user, from our web site, as a service to the user, forselecting the desired charities or groups of charities, which can bestored as a set for each person, as a database, for future referral andusage. This makes the experience easier and more convenient for theusers.

Alternatively, in response to clicking on the “DONATE DIRECTLY TOCHARITIES” the donation agent software can enable the user to donatedirectly to a selected charity.

The webpage can further display at least a portion of a charity-relatedactivity history corresponding to the user, or for her friends' or herfamily members', based on permission to access for the user.

The independent website can generate and support still another interfacedisplay(s) analogous to the webpages described in the foregoing, fordisplaying a running tally of donations targeted to some specificpurpose, along with a threshold amount that, when reached, triggers anautomatic award of the accumulated donations. For example, the specificpurpose could be tuition assistance, and the threshold amount could be$5000.

In more detail, the donation agent can support a “live feed” orreal-time display of donations targeted to the specific purpose. Thelive feed or real-time display can be driven by finalized and verifiedtransactions executed via various merchant websites, for example. Thereal-time display could be in the form of a status bar that shows thethreshold amount and the verified amount accumulated toward thethreshold amount based on the most recent data available. The appearanceof the real-time display, however, is in no way limited by the examplesdescribed herein.

The donation agent can perform operations to calculate the accumulatedamount and compare the accumulated amount to the threshold amount. Basedon the comparing, the donation agent can determine whether theaccumulated amount has reached or exceeded the threshold amount. If thedonation agent determines that the accumulated amount has not reached orexceeded the threshold amount, the donation agent can continue tomonitor and display the verified amount accumulated toward the thresholdamount based on the most recent data available.

On the other hand, if the donation agent determines that the accumulatedamount has reached or exceeded the threshold amount, the donation agentcan announce an award of the threshold amount to a recipient. Thedonation agent can randomly select the recipient, for example. Theannouncement of the award can take the form of a display via the livefeed or real-time display, for example, but the announcement can takevarious alternative or additional forms, such as emails or otherelectronic notifications, U.S. postal service notifications, and thelike.

As noted, the donation agent can randomly select an award recipient,using any of known randomization techniques, for example. Recipients canbe members of the donation agent website, for example, or any otherpersons or organizations who register as part of an award programsupported by the donation agent. In the case where the specific purposeis tuition assistance, for example, candidates for receiving the awardcould be students who register with the award program via, for example,the independent website. Each registered student could be assigned anumber by the donation agent; a winning number could be randomlyselected by the donation agent after the threshold is reached, and thedonation agent could award the threshold amount to the student assignedthe winning number.

After the award is made, the donation agent can reset the accumulatedamount to zero, and again begin to monitor and report on the accumulatedamount as it grows. The donation agent can also reset or change thethreshold amount if this is desired.

As noted previously, application of an automated, randomly-assignedaward with real-time reporting supported by the donation agent is notlimited to the example of tuition assistance. Any charitable cause couldserve as the specific purpose toward which donations are accumulated.

As depicted for example in FIG. 5, the donation agent can provide aninteractive input field for navigation (501). For example, the inputfield can be a display or portion of a display that is generated duringa session within the independent website, but wherein a user hasnavigated to a merchant website, for example, from within theindependent website session. The input field can display information forreminding a user that the user is currently interacting with a sessionthat was entered or invoked via the independent website, and thedonation agent can navigate back to the independent website in responseto user input in the input field. In one embodiment, the donation agentcan track user activity with the merchant website session.

In one embodiment, the cross domain scripting is addressed for exampleby creating script elements and setting the source to a script file fromanother domain, e.g., via JSON web services and dynamic script tags. Oneembodiment dynamically creates <script> tags on a page where theJavaScript source is executed. A <script> tag references a remoteJavaScript source, and a dynamically created script tag that referencesa source on another domain that source outputs JSON. In one embodiment,message posting is used to communicate information. In one embodiment,an agent plug-in or extension is used (e.g., running in the browser),e.g., to examine the document object model and interact with third partyserver. As depicted in FIG. 5, in one embodiment, a user interface isprovided on top or floating above the store website (e.g., in iFrame)with links for jumping to various websites or information sites. Thescripts (e.g., using jQuery) are used to control the animated behaviorfor hiding, rolling, minimizing the interface and interaction with userinput (e.g., mouse).

Table 1, below, tabulates various possible features of the independentwebsite and application software of the donation agent.

Website Features and Functions Basic This refers to a simple, basicwebsite that is information focused - includes homepage and contactpage, and of course, the ability to add more pages (for things likeAbout Us, The Team, FAQ etc) and customize the navigation bar asnecessary Informational video There is the ability to share informationthrough social media sites Charity Portal Sign Up Capability for NewCharities Allows new charities to Log-In Capability for CurrentCharities sign up, and current Profile Management (Name, Logo, Address,charities to manage their Website, Phone, Fax, E-mail and Description)account, control the This information will be displayed on theirinformation displayed on own splash page in the website their splashpage, set up Widget displaying total donated to payment info, and payorganization to date (e.g., updated every their invoice month) Abilityto select and submit a Payment Method (Direct Deposit or Check) ForClass B Shareholders only: Display of Account Balance of SubscriptionCost due and ability to pay that balance (either balance transfer orcredit card) Ability to attach files/host files that Charities candownload (such as the Charity Merchant Agreement) Charity Account May beinterlinked with the Charity Portal Synchronization and database forsyncing (outlined in Website Management specs below) When a new charitysigns up on the website, gets approved and added into the program, itwill upload a logo and address on their Portal which will then bereflected in the application We should be able to access and manageCharity accounts - be able to pull information from charities, trackdonations to charities, access activity by charities Merchant Sign-UpPage Merchants may have a page where they can and Application sign upand select their agreed percentage Download For simplicity purposes,merchants signing up This refers to the will be assigned a Merchant ID#,but they businesses who want will be able to pick their own password toparticipate and Basic functionality should be able to capture use theapplication name, merchant, website, etc, and agreement to downloadAfter signing up, they will have the ability to download the applicationfrom the website to integrate the application in their site For small tomedium sized online businesses, e.g. using Magento and osCommerce, wecan provide a step-by-step explanation of how to upload this applicationinto their e-commerce site. Merchant Portal Log-In Capability forCurrent Merchants Allows current Profile Management (Logo, Website,Contact participating merchants Person and Category editable) to managetheir Account Balance management where account and pay their merchantcan view the balance, download a invoice full invoice, pay the balanceor set-up an autopayment Ability to View Detailed Transactions in eachtransaction period Ability to report returns (e.g., a reconciliationreport done on our end, based on the returns file given to us by themerchant) Merchant Account May be interlinked with the Merchant PortalManagement database Refers to the back-end of Application is able totrack and record the the Merchant Portal that necessary information ofthe merchant's is controllable and transactions occurred (Informationneeded to accessible to us be recorded can be found in (doc)) Things totrack: Transactions, returns, donations, charities, net revenueApplication can be able to organize the transactions collected and betallied in an exportable document for invoice purposes Trackingpurchases on Background: Sites like SocialVest.us and merchant's siteEbates.com act as agents to merchants, and direct their members to shopat participating merchants in exchange for commission. We can track thisprocess (from the independent website to merchant site) and bill themerchant accordingly. We can charge an additional agreed commission fee,a portion of which goes into the Member's Piggy Bank. Member Portal SignUp Capability for New Members (both This refers to the ability manualand through social media) for Members to sign in Log-In Capability forCurrent Members and manage their Profile Management and Customizationaccount. It gives (Name, Avatar, Email, Password, Birthday, members apersonalized Favorite Charities, Favorite Merchants) feeling andinvolves Ability to track all donation activities them deeply in theInclude a Piggy Bank for each member mission. (Recall: members can signinto the application and have the option to donate to their Piggy Bankto collect the donation money and give away later) Ability to donate anamount from their Piggy Bank to their charity of choice Ability tosubmit a suggestion for a charity Floating Donation Widget: For signedin Members to be able to see their Total Donation to Date and TotalDonation in the Week displayed, e.g., in the top right Tuition CharityBank Ability to have Members who are students This allows members signup for tuition assistance (using their who are students to name,college, student e-mail address) sign up for the lottery, “Real-Time”Feed of Charity Bank Monetary and be awarded a Level (e.g., set at 5k)tuition assistance Once, e.g., 5k$ is reach, random generation of winnerwill be done, automatically, to determine who will receive the tuitionassistance Send the winner the Acceptance Form link, where the pointperson in charge of Student Account Finances can verify that the studentis in fact enrolled at their university, download and print theUniversity Tuition Assistance Agreement, Sign and date the Agreement,Upload back into the Acceptance Form page, enter his/her contactinformation, and click submit. (Information may be manually verified bycalling the person in charge, and then send the check to the university)

Table 2, below, tabulates various possible features of the applicationsoftware.

Application Breakdown of Functionality Application Interface Theinterface comes with a Title Header, a brief description andinstruction, sign-in ability, zip-code categorization, andlocal/state/national segregation The application interface can present(upon calculation) the agreed percentage to donate by the merchant, andthe calculated dollar amount of donation from this percentage.Confirmation page of the application may have the social media sharingability Member Sign-In The Piggy Bank is a virtual “bank account”Capability & Piggy for each member where they, as opposed to Bankdonating directly to a charity right away, have the ability to selectthis option and accumulate donations from their purchases into thisPiggy Bank. Later, they can log into their profile to donate from thepiggy bank to their charity of choice The application can be used bynon-members, however, there should also be a sign-in capability formembers to view a) their favorite charities, and b) be able to selecttheir Piggy Bank The selections made by members can be logged andupdated on their Profile After selection of their charity, theconfirmation page should display their Profile Snapshot indicating howmuch they have donated to date and the total in their piggy bank. “Atthe Cart” This “version” of the application is located at Integration ofthe shopping cart of the merchant right before Application checkout.There will be a button at the cart, clickable by the retail customer toview the application This version has the option to include anadditional donation, and when doing so, the cart will be automaticallyupdated to include the additional donation Ability for guests to clickthe button to sign-in or sign-up to log their donations (will be takento a different site) “After Payment” This “version” of the applicationis located at Integration of the confirmation page, after the paymenthas Application been made. Instead of a button, it will be, e.g., anautomatic “pop-up” Because it occurs after payment, there may be noability to give an additional donation With some changes, the two“versions” have some similarities, but appear in different areas of themerchant's website Magento, OS Commerce, The application can bedownloadable for and API version of the merchants who want to sign upand use the application donation agent The application can be set up toaccommodate the various “donation agreed percentages” per merchant.

FIG. 1 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method of consumer/userchoosing a charity for directing donation. The user can add more to thedonation. The money comes from the store or merchant. The user is sentan invitation to join our charity network.

FIG. 2 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user withlogo (202) display. It shows a video for instructions and details. Ithas an interface for sign in and sign up (201), directly or using othersocial websites (e.g. FACEBOOK) (item 203), or browsing as avisitor/guest.

FIG. 3 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user forchoices for shop by category, shop by merchant, most popular, newmerchants, and the like (301). It has a search box for shop and charity(302) from our databases. It has a sign in or register section, usingother sites or databases (308). It has choices for menu, e.g., About,Shops, Charities, Hopeward/charity Bank, Share, and Contact. It has thetotal year to date or this week/month listed, for donations or purchases(303). It has weekly goal or deadline event for a specific event, with avisual indicator as how much has been achieved, in multiple forms orformats (304). It displays featured shops (305) for browsing, review, orsearch, and featured charities (306), with arrows to go through thelist. It can access “my profile”, and it can also refer this to a friendthrough a social site (309), so that they can make their own FAV(favorite) entities, too, in addition to the ones by the original user.It also has the informational menu and related functions (307).

FIG. 4 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user,with picture (401), for My Profile. It has in the menu options forcharity bank, share, and contact. It is customized for the user, interms of look/appearance. It shows color badges for charity achievementsfor different levels, e.g., for highest dollar value/amount, fastestgrowing, fastest growth for a newcomer, highest recent member, highestaverage, recent highest, max so far, max this year, max this period,most referral, best result from referral, most friends in charity,highest accumulated for friends, highest accumulated for a group,highest relative contributions (relative to income or position or age orgeography or charity or cause or type or school or country or regionalor class of entities), and the like. It shows the total or averages,402, in various form and formats. It shows the recent and alltransactions and donations. It shows the options such as Shop More,Donate From Piggy Bank, and Donate Directly To Charities, as an additionor separate from the merchandise purchases, for the user. It shows therecent activities and dates for donations and transactions, withsymbols, and badges, with a short description, which can be sent to afriend in a social media as well, or to her email/mobile device, as textor SMS, for showing to all or friends about goodwill and good deed, toencourage others, 404.

FIG. 6 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for user, forstore, with logo, with messages about donations, percentages, andtransactions. The Sparo standalone logo, 601, invokes the popup dialogor page for donation or the website. It may be a reference to a scriptat Sparo, 602, dynamically generated based on the merchant's ID. Themessage may be tailored via the admin interface, and the percentage maybe obtained from the database based on the current time/date.

In various embodiments, for example as depicted in FIG. 7 a-e, the userbrowses and selects items/services from a merchant's website forpurchase, and the merchant provides donations (e.g., as a percentage ofthe total purchase) to the charities selected by the customer.

An embodiment, as for example depicted in FIG. 7 a, a donation userinterface is presented to the user at the checkout process where theuser selects one or more charities, e.g., prior to the completion of thecheckout process. After the selection, the checkout is completed and theuser is presented with the confirmation(s) for such adonation/transaction. In such an embodiment, a reference ID is generatedby the donation agent (e.g., as a primary key to a database table) toassociate with the transaction. Once the transaction is complete, themerchant's confirmation code or transaction ID is captured (e.g., viaAPI or script/plug-in running on client's side) and associated with thereference ID generated by the donation agent. In one embodiment, theamount of the transaction used for determining the donation amount iscaptured and recorded by donation agent. In one embodiment, theconfirmations are in form of both on-screen and email or TXT.

An embodiment, as for example depicted in FIG. 7 b, a donation interfaceis displayed to the customer after the checkout confirmation, for thecustomer to choose charities of choice for donation. In one embodiment,the confirmation code (e.g., at checkout) and/or purchase information iscaptured for determining the amount of the donation based on themerchant's settings queried from the database such as the currentpercentage rate. In one embodiment, the browser session ID is capturedand used to query the purchase information (e.g., amount and merchant'sconfirmation code/transaction ID) to associate with a transaction IDgenerated by the donation agent. In one embodiment, the customer maystill invoke the donation interface (if previously dismissed it afterthe checkout process). In one embodiment, the user logs into donationagent (e.g., by signing in as a returning member or signing up as amember), e.g., to bring the customer's favorite charities into theinterface. In one embodiment, the customer uses a social network postingfeature to share the information about the donation on one or moresocial networks. In one embodiment, the shared message is automaticallyconstructed based on a template with the merchant's information andrules. In one embodiment, the customer enters own comments about thedonation activity in the message. In one embodiment, the customer canselect the charities of choice without logging into or signing up withthe donation agent and the donation is recorded and associated with ageneric guest in the database. In one embodiment, as for exampledepicted in FIG. 7 c, the donation interface is displayed after thecheckout process (e.g., for merchants who work on a time-sensitive basissuch as ticket sales). In one embodiment, after the customer selects thecharities for donation, the donation agent captures the transactioninformation and associates it with a reference ID. If subsequently thecustomer logs into donation agent, the transaction is associated withthe member by looking up the reference ID. In such an embodiment, thetransaction will show up when the member logs into the donation portal.

In one embodiment, for example as depicted in FIG. 7( d), customers areprovided with a user interface prior to the checkout process, e.g., a“Sparo” button to participate. In one embodiment, this presents anoption for merchants to have the donation agent appear more subtle as amore intention-driven feature during the checkout process, to filter incustomers who purposefully want to purchase with a purpose of donatingto charities. In one embodiment, a promotional banner alerts newcustomer to what Sparo/donation agent is. In one embodiment, donationagent codes/scripts are downloaded from the merchant's website,referenced/imported via merchant's webpage, or invoked via an extensionor plug-in installed at the user's browser. In one embodiment, themerchant's application interacts with the donation agent in the backend,e.g., via an API. In one embodiment, the banner indicates based on theitems in the shopping cart (e.g., total purchase amount), the amount ofdonation anticipated by the merchant. In one embodiment, the donationagent and merchant's application communicate via e-commerce platform(e.g., a shared platform type or predetermined APIs). In one embodiment,the buttons or banners on the webpage are generated via scripts embeddedor referenced on the webpage. In one embodiment, upon customer'sselecting the buttons/interface corresponding to the donation agent, thedonation interface is displayed to the customer to select charities ofchoice. The customer may sign-in, sign-up or participate a guest withdonation agent in selecting such charities. In one embodiment, thecustomer is provided with an interface to also personally donate to thecharities of choice (for example as depicted in FIG. 29( d)). In oneembodiment, a minimum (and/or maximum) threshold amount(s) (e.g., basedon merchant's settings, donation agent's settings, the member's settings(if logged in), or a default values) are used to limit such personaldonations from the customer. In one embodiment, personal donation fromthe customer is captured at the checkout as a separate donation item tobe processed by the same payment process/system. In one embodiment, thedonation agent captures both the personal donation and the merchant'sdonation associated with the transaction. In one embodiment, thecustomer (if logged in a member of the donation network), specifiesdonation to charities from the corresponding charity (piggy) bank, basedon the amount available in the charity bank and the rules/limitationsimposed by the merchants associated with the portions available in thecharity bank associated with the member.

In one embodiment, as for example depicted in FIG. 7( e), the checkoutprocess is done via donation agent (e.g., for fast checkout forreturning members/customers). In one embodiment, the customer isprovided with a choice to checkout as a guest or as a returning member(e.g., as depicted in FIG. 29( b)). In one embodiment, the customerproceeds as a guest (e.g., as depicted in FIG. 29( c)). In oneembodiment, the customer choosing to proceed as a returning member, isprovided with an interface to choose (or enter) payment information(e.g., previously stored). In one embodiment, the customer's owndonation, purchase amount are processed based on the paymentinformation/authorization, and the authorization (or confirmation ID) isreturned to the merchant's server (e.g., via API) to complete thecheckout at the merchant's side. In one embodiment, the donation amountand fees corresponding to the transaction is communicated to themerchant upon the completion of the checkout (e.g., as information or aspart of invoicing process).

In one embodiment, a user selects default (e.g., favorite or a subset offavorite) set of charities for donations to be given. In one embodiment,the donation interface during checkout is suppressed or not presented tothe user based on merchant's setting and/or user's settings (e.g., iflogged in or determined based on browser's history or cookie). In oneembodiment, the default charities are used as pre-selected doneeswithout presenting the donation interface. In one embodiment, thedistribution of the donation amount between the selected charities isbased on their priority (e.g., high, medium, or low, as for exampledepicted in FIG. 37 for associated matching causes). In one embodiment,the distribution of donation amount is driven based on a stochasticprocess to choose a set of charities based on the correspondingpriorities.

FIG. 8 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for request orcommand using e.g. XML, with user key authorization. It follows by newor update order information or user access error message.

FIG. 9 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for merchantportal, with store name, merchant ID, percentage of charge, store logoand information (which is editable). It shows revenue generated, accountbalance, payment button, invoice view, invoice history, and auto-paymentmethods. It lets user view and manage transactions, as well as reportreturns for a time period. It has the account manager section, withinformation field, which is editable, as well as password (which can bechanged here). It displays payment confirmation, cancelled/returnedconfirmation, on-line/electronic invoice to merchant, invoicing history,downloadable in various formats, e.g., XLS or PDF, and ACH paymentinterface and processing module. It can also use XML language for thispurpose.

FIG. 10 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for merchantportal, for merchant transaction management, with profile, store name,and unique merchant ID number, plus percentage of charge. It displayscanceled or returned items. It can search the database, also export theinformation. The user can choose the time period. It can display theorder details, which can be automatically searched or manipulated, or inone embodiment, manually searched and edited/changed. It can also haveMerchant's Transaction ID and Charity network TX ID (unique), which canbe matched or compared. It allows the partial returns on part of theitems, which subtract from the corresponding sums so far, to keep trackof net transactions. It does the functions automatically, via API. Inone embodiment, the merchant can manually enter a TX, search for acharity or charities, and add transaction under Action. It can also undothe addition, cancellation, and returns. It can Add TX (transaction) byentering values on the table, or search charity (Action becomes Addtransaction). In one embodiment, the Action button choices are marked asreturned or marked as canceled.

FIG. 11 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for charity,with sign up, verification, and granting membership. It has aconfirmation message for payment. It also has charity logs, withtracking the activities. It has the choices for bank account, directdeposit, using a check, or other methods of fund transfer. It has asection for Contact Information, with an option for Change of Contact.It specifies categories: Animals, Arts, Culture, Humanities, Education,Environment, Health, Human Services, International Development, andothers. In one embodiment, it collects administrative fee for Class Bshareholders, as charities or schools getting non-voting shares, to helpthe network grow, for goodwill and advertisement, and as a partner withour network.

FIG. 12 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for charityportal, with donations and disbursement tracking, with snapshot andhistory, with charity ID number, for a transaction period, with totalsand accumulated values. It has a feature for exporting information. Ithas tables for display. FIG. 13 is for one embodiment, as an example,for interface for charity portal, with donations and disbursementtracking, with pending donations, transactions, and details.

FIG. 14 is for one embodiment, as an example, for an interface forcharities, at different levels, or topics, or size, or overhead, e.g. atinternational, national, state, or local scope, with favorite ones, andshowing the performance or overall score, by us or third parties. Thesecan be searched from our site. These can be filtered oncriteria/conditions by our site. It can match it to the location by zipcode or address or email or server location or history or other personaldata or cookies or behavior/trend analysis. The preference can be basedon categories and the priorities of causes and the level of matchingwith charities. Similar interface as above can be used for donatingmoney to charities.

Here are some examples for charities/non-profits:

Animals

-   -   Animal Rights and Animal Shelters    -   Wildlife Conservation    -   Zoos and Aquariums

Arts, Culture, Humanities

-   -   Museums    -   Public Broadcasting    -   Historical Societies    -   Landmark Preservation    -   Theaters and Performing Arts

Education

-   -   Libraries    -   Universities and Colleges    -   Elementary, middle, and high Schools    -   Other Education Programs and Services

Environment

-   -   Parks    -   Environmental Protection    -   Preserves and Conservation

Health

-   -   Medical Research    -   Diseases and Disorders Education    -   Patient, nursing and daycare Support    -   Treatment and Prevention Services

Human Services

-   -   Social Services    -   Children's and Family Services    -   Youth Development and clubs    -   Shelter and homeless Services    -   Food Banks

International

-   -   Humanitarian Relief    -   Development Services    -   International Peace Advocacies

Public Benefit

-   -   Civil Rights    -   Public Policy    -   Fundraising    -   Community Development

Religion

-   -   Religious activities    -   Religious advocacies

FIG. 15 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface formerchants and shops/stores, with local ones found using zip code orsimilar methods as mentioned elsewhere in this disclosure. It can searchfor the stores, or add them to the favorite list. It has a set asideprogram for donation amount from several merchants to sign up newmembers (e.g., give those members to contribute a large amount to theirfavorite charities, by signing up and going to those stores to shop).This also could be part of a lottery type distribution, on top of thepercentage method. It can find out what the new members are interestedin and recommend relevant shops. It can collect the information ondemographics of buying habits. We also have periodic charity drives setaside.

FIG. 16 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for theuser, customized, with menu, logo, picture, and totals. It also has adetailed donation activity, during a time period, using a table orlisting. It can also connect to My Profile for the user. FIG. 17 is forone embodiment, as an example, for interface for the user, foractivities for piggy bank, for donation and information, e.g. for date,time, source, recipient, amount, and balance, with a period specified.

FIG. 18 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for thepiggy bank, with suggestion to friends. If multiple charities areselected, then it tries to distribute the donation evenly, or use theuser's preference for distribution, e.g., based on the categories. Italso allows selection of categories to donate (e.g., among favoritecharities or environmental ones).

FIG. 19 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for studentscholarship, with verification step, and initial criteria, which mayinclude some personal information as filters. After a threshold isreached or a condition is met, and subject to verification andacceptance, the fund goes directly to the school on behalf of thestudent. Member, as an example, signs up for tuition assistance program,provides information including financial, and gets confirmation. TheSparo Tuition Bank has reached $5,000 and the name was randomly selectedas the recipient of $5,000 in tuition assistance. The Acceptance form isused, electronically. Agreement form/with university is established. Itneeds to verify the authorization, by recipient at school, beforesending any funds. Then, the Student Enrollment Verification form isprocessed. It also needs to verify the signer/identity/authority. Thecolleges can enroll in advance, or for the first time, when a studentapplies for the tuition assistance. It can also include a loan paymentto the financial institution, requiring enrolling the financialinstitution. After the transfer/payment, the confirmation is issued.

FIG. 20 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for schools anddisbursement of the funds. FIG. 21 is for one embodiment, as an example,for interface for our tuition bank, with details and indicators forcurrent and past status and performance, visually, which can be sharedwith friends or emailed. The threshold for release point is set e.g. at5000 US$, or at the tuition or expenses for one semester.

FIG. 22 is for one embodiment, as an example, for interface for tuitionbank categories, with selectors, indicators, and sharing mechanisms,e.g. for engineering and music majors. FIG. 23 is for one embodiment, asan example, for interface for tuition bank categories, with selectionfor international, national, state, and local scopes, with roller orruler to view them all. Geographical classification is with respect tothe user's location. The criteria maybe based on categories and/orinstitutions. The criteria may be based on the student's geography orfinancial need.

FIG. 24 is for one embodiment, as an example, for method for merchant,for sign up, logging, updating, tracking, choosing a percentage, anduploading the application. There are two passwords (for one embodiment),one for IT integration, and one for financial (e.g., percentage andorder). The INFO/information (for one embodiment) comprises officialwebsite, landing page, account manager info, categories of charities orrestrictions, billing information, and terms and conditions. Forintegration platform choice, it uses pre-populated templates.

FIGS. 25 a-c are for embodiments, as examples, for system for charitynetwork. FIG. 26 is for one embodiment, as an example, for system forcharity network.

FIG. 27 is for one embodiment, as an example, for system forcharity/tuition bank network, with consumers and students, plus schoolsand charities, and stores. They interact with loan institutions andbanks or credit card companies, as well as clearing houses for auctionsor other functions as the middleman in between, or for processing thetransactions on behalf of others, especially small entities, oraggregating or simplifying the process due to economy of scale forothers, or having some specific functions, e.g., for checking orcertifications, e.g. for IRS/taxes, as a 3^(rd) party or neutral entity,or as a trusted entity. This coordinates and checks with or buys reportsfrom charity scoring organizations or school scoring entities, as wellas government watch dogs/organizations, e.g. IRS or FTC, e.g. to certifysome entity, or filter the bad actors, or countries/entities/people fromState Dept. or DOJ forbidden lists, to avoid. For each function in thisnetwork, some middleman can exist to make life easier for many actors inthat category, as a representative for that sector or subset of thatindustry, e.g., agents or companies that rate charities or schools orverify the tax compliance or overhead for charities.

FIG. 28 is for one embodiment, as an example, for timeline for theprocess for deadlines and actions, for staggered events, in parallel, asdescribed in more details elsewhere in this disclosure. For rules, e.g.,we have:

-   -   Invoice billed every 30 Days or 1 month.    -   30 Days or 1 month to pay Invoice, before incurring interest.    -   60 Days or 2 months to report returns, since last invoice        billed, to be reflected as credits on the next invoice. However,        merchants report returns as often as they like, before this        period (they can do it in bulk or report as they go).

In other words, revenue from total transactions in a given month willnot be considered finalized and secured until 60 days or 2 months afterthe given month (or period).

FIG. 29 a shows an example of store website or display or screen. FIG.29 b shows an example of Sparo interface. For returning member, we havethe credit card or payment information is on hand or it is obtained fromthe user. For guests, it takes the user info and payment info, and givesoption to create an account (and sets the password). FIG. 29 c shows anexample of display for returning member (for pop-up, as partialdisplay). FIG. 29 d shows an example of Sparo interface. User's donationis taken from the user's credit card or payment account (e.g., if aguest). User can donate from charity bank, as well. FIG. 29 e shows anexample of Sparo interface, for order complete. FIG. 29 f shows anexample of Sparo interface, for donation. This is for members who hasalready submitted their donations and signed in to record this activityunder their accounts. FIG. 29 g shows an example of Sparo interface, fordonation. This is what comes up when new member submitted charityselection and donated an additional amount.

FIG. 30 shows an example of Sparo interface, for donation, for differentlocalities/geographical coverage or scope.

FIG. 31 shows an example of an interface for allocation of funds,visually, showing the amount, and with easy user-interface UI or GUI. Itcan be based on percentage or absolute values using a ruler as adjusteron screen, or as ratio. Or, it can use a pin to fix the amount, e.g. forCharity 2, fixed at $2.74, by user (3110), as pin is toggled on screenby user's click, for fixing the Charity 2 allocation, and the rest beingnot-fixed, as indicated by horizontal pin, as not-engaged, or as maxflexibility, or as no-constraint. In this example, the rest of the fundremaining, absent any other instruction or condition or action orconstraint by any party or user or system, or default set, we use thedefault as “distribute all remaining equally between all the rest”. Thiscan be used for schools as well. Thus, we have e.g. 1 dollar for Charity4 (see 3120). So, one can split the donations on the user interface.When selecting a charity, the remaining amount shows up in an editablebox. User can edit the amount. The constraint is enforced based on theFix button. The unconstraint items divide the unconstraint amountbetween themselves (evenly) and automatically, for this example, or anyother formula, if instructed before. One uses pins to indicateconstraint amounts, for this example. In one embodiment, one uses thelinear programming, or optimization, for allocation of funds/resources.

FIG. 32 shows an example of an interface for allocation of funds, frommerchant, piggy bank, or consumer directly, with icons shown. Thehalf-piggy-bank icon indicates a constraint or max imposed by a party,as also indicated on screen, with explanation, and more reasons givenusing the WHY button, from menu or window on screen. For example, itshows $ 2.60 for max for Charity 3, with the half-piggy-bank icon shown.For example, UI for merchants to enter their preferences for charitiesis shown using: sliders for priority, with checkboxes (on/off),categories of causes (and drill down to sub-causes), inclusion/exclusionlists, type-like selection, presets, and the like. For example, theorder of usage is:

-   -   Use the store's donation first.    -   Use piggy bank next.    -   Use personal last.    -   Put unused store donation in piggy bank, if allowed by merchant.

For example, linear programming is used to determine the availablesolutions in linear constraint. For example, for half-piggy-bank iconsituation, some (but not all) merchants contributed to the piggy bankaccept contribution to the selected charity. So, that is a constraint ondistribution of the funds, based on the disapproved or not-approvedcharity by some merchants, in this example.

FIG. 33 shows the Goodwill score, which comes from different factors,resulting in different levels of achievements and badges or colorribbons or stars, as an indication of success in charitable causes.Goodwill score is, e.g., based on a weighted linear combination and/orsigmoid function of the variable parameter(s). Badge or star is, e.g.,based on categories/range of goodwill scores/causes. Badge icon may be,e.g., based on cause icons (such as animal, heart, or education), e.g.,book, panda, and the like.

FIG. 34 shows an example of a method for usage of amount collected forcharity funds, as defaults, and based on deadlines, so that it will notstay in limbo or unaccounted for, especially for tax purposes and properaccountings for various parties involved. The determination ofactionable amount based on timing is based on the transaction date/time.The determination of the actionable amount based on the preferreddonation amount per a specific period is based on allocation amongusers, e.g., first in terms of the donation amount from a merchant in auser's charity bank, and second based on the age of the correspondingtransaction.

FIG. 35 shows an example of a method for reporting usage of amountcollected for charity funds, based on deadlines, for tax purposes, IRS,or other government or third party agencies. FIG. 36 shows an example ofa system for student and school verification and initiation. It has thefollowing modules (working in this order): authentication module,verification module (interacting with evaluation module), matchingmodule, scheduler module, and approval module. It uses the PKI, e.g.public-private key structure for transmission andauthentication/signature.

FIG. 37 shows an example of an interface for charity, non-profit, ororganization selection, using our search engine or filter with variousmenus or windows/choices. It can mark them as exclude, include, default,or favorite organization, which can roll on the top on screen as slideror ruler. It can have various locality scope, e.g. National, withrespect to the user, as displayed in folder shaped manner forconvenience of the user. The conditions are combinable, e.g. using OR,AND, or other logical operations, e.g., XOR. The emphasis on thecategory or subclass of causes or charities can be e.g. expressed asLOW, MID, and HIGH, for ranking or weight. It can be also expressed aspreference e.g. as YES/NO, as binary choice, for simple filtering,rather than ranking or weight. This can be used for user, consumer,charity, school, and the like. In one embodiment, symbolic list andresulting expressions as a pseudo-code for exclusion, inclusion,favorite, and default can be generated from the menu, as shown on thetop, without too much typing or programming language, for ease of usefor general user base without much programming experience. In oneembodiment, by default, the Default setting is Favorite, unless changedby the user. In one embodiment, we have pre-filtered lists of candidatesor charities or schools, for each category or class or type, forconvenience of user, which was done by Sparo beforehand. In oneembodiment, we have a recommended or popular collection of charities.

FIG. 38 shows an example of a system for finding the location of theuser based on various input or parameters, some with more weight thanothers, to find the local charities or schools, as filter or preference,if applicable, by user. For example, personal data with a recent datehas more weight than the GPS data, which may be just the temporarylocation of the user on vacation, but not her real residence's addressor location.

FIG. 40 shows an example of a system for our network with differentparties involved, for various payments or fees, including deferredpayments, for Sparo, merchant, consumer or guest, charity bank, tuitionbank, charity, student, and school, as well as banks, loanorganizations, and tax/government agencies, plus certification/thirdparty/neutral agencies for validation of schools, charities, orstudents. In one embodiment, Founding is a fraction of fees collected atthe processing of donations or merchandise cost. Or, it can be a minimumor max fraction of those, up to a limit, such as using a linear equationin between the extremes/up to the limits.

FIG. 41 shows an example of a method for exclusion of charities orinclusion of favorites, in order. FIG. 42 shows an example of a systemfor scheduling or updating for distribution for charities. This can betime-dependent, and can be programmed in advance, e.g., as rule orcondition, and be deterministic, or conditional, based on time, event,trigger, or condition. For example, during Christmas season/Decembermonth, one may want to increase her contribution to mother causes from30 percent to 45 percent, of all funds available or accumulated so far,pre-set, without entering that percentage every time. For example,during recession, or if/whenever the stock market indicators orunemployment or a stock value is below or above some values, e.g. DowJones Industrial Average going below some threshold, then one may wantto increase her contribution to homeless causes from 30 percent to 48percent, as pre-programmed in her portfolio, without any further humaninteractions, unless later the user wants to change thesettings/thresholds/conditions/trigger points again, for her portfolio,as rules database, for applying/acting automatically, based on satisfiedconditions or trigger events happening.

FIG. 43 a shows an example of a data structure for the organization fortransactions between parties, which are connected logically together andshown visually with the indicated relationships. The merchant has an ID,and Sparo has an ID, for identification. (The symbols shown forconnectors are standard in industry for the figure.) The canceled andreturned transactions are captured there, each with corresponding IDs tobe traceable, and with amount mentioned for the returned items, to beaccountable in the NET results/net sales/summary.

FIG. 43 b shows an example of a data structure for the merchant, bankinfo, merchant percentage, and contact info, which can be changing perexpiration date or effective dates/ranges, with easy way for changingcontact info, bank info, or merchant info, including the percentages setby merchant, e.g. using valid/expiration/effective dates, or for anyother situations, e.g., for school donations, to update, e.g.automatically. The logical relationships between items are shown withthe arrows and connectors. The IDs and identities of people are alsoshown.

In one embodiment, non-cash donation is processed via donation agent. Inone embodiment, as for example depicted in FIG. 39( a), an entity (e.g.,ABC Utility) provides a gift certificate or coupon from a merchant (oradvertiser) (e.g., XYZ Shop) to its customers for an incentive (e.g., togo paperless for billing statements). An interface is provided to thecustomers to donate such certificates/coupons to charity of theirchoice. In one embodiment, the certificate or coupon is presented by acode (e.g., identifying the specific coupon and other identifyinginformation for the issuer of the coupon). In one embodiment, theinformation is packaged in an object/file (e.g., signed electronicallyusing PKI). In one embodiment, the user selects charities of choice andauthorizes the donation of the coupon or certificate for use ofcharities. In one embodiment, the authorization is associated with aRef. ID by donation agent and/or merchant(s). In one embodiment, a cashvalue for the coupon/certificate is extracted, e.g., via a marketplaceor auction to purchase by a third party to use the certificate/coupon atthe issuer merchant. In one embodiment, the payment (subtracted by thefees) are provided as donation to the selected charities and captured inthe member's donation (via XYZ Shop) in the member's account at thedonation agent.

In one embodiment, as for example depicted in FIG. 39( b), a merchantcan donate to a customer's charity of choice a non-cash item. Forexample, a clothing shop may donate clothes to a charity (e.g.,Salvation Army). In one embodiment, charities and/or merchants canspecify in their settings the type of non-cash donations that they mayoffer/accept. In one embodiment, such settings can be matched by thedonation agent to allow a merchant provide its donation in a non-cashform. In one embodiment, the merchant, e.g., via the donation agent,creates a coupon or certificate reflecting the amount of donation to beredeemed by the charity as non-cash item purchase. In one embodiment,the beneficiaries of the charity redeem the donation by purchase at themerchant. In one embodiment, the donation agent accumulates suchdonations to a charity until a (e.g., minimum) threshold (e.g., set bythe merchant) to provide the charity.

In one embodiment, we can have donation to special events, such asunexpected flood, or school as special charity, appearing as a specialcase in our network or system, e.g. run by Sparo (us), as a donor, aswell as others contributing, e.g., people as consumers or non-members,and merchants, for goodwill. In one embodiment, the users ormerchants/stores can aggregate their contributions, e.g. via group emailor invitation, with acceptance box, with suggestions for amount ofcontributions, and the goal to reach, in a social media or friends'circle environment.

In one embodiment, we can have donation before payment for purchase. Inone embodiment, we have donation after payment for purchase/transaction.In one embodiment, the user can contribute to charity from piggy bank orfrom, e.g., her own credit card, which either Sparo (we) or store addand process the total charges, based on those correspondingaccounts/forms.

In one embodiment, we have regional classification of charities, e.g.,local, state, national, and international, with a tab shown on screen,for ease of use. In one embodiment, we have subject classification ofcharities, e.g., homeless, medical-related, children-related,environmental-related, food-related, and the like. In one embodiment,the system gets the donation to charity from the store, and with nocharge to the customer, or invoices that to the store at a later date,or does a batch process for many items at the end of the period. In oneembodiment, we have a portion of the proceeds going to the other usage,e.g. student tuition or expense scholarship or grant. Then, the rest isused for our expense or overhead, as well as company's shareholders, ifany.

In one embodiment, we have the list of charities prioritized, by us,users, government, based on lower overhead, based on past history, orpreference of the user on categories, types, geography, country, orlower overhead percentages. In one embodiment, we have plug-ins in anyweb site or store, or using cookies for tracking or behavioral analysis,on an individual basis, or aggregated for all users, as average or trendanalysis or statistical analysis. In one embodiment, we have APIs topartner sites or entities or developers associated with our program. Inone embodiment, we have charities getting a percentage of our company asstock, for encouraging more participation and good-will.

In one embodiment, we have 3 types of the accounts: (1) merchant/stores,(2) consumer, as a customer of merchant and a member of the Sparo, and(3) charities or non-profit organizations, e.g. certified by thegovernment, IRS, or a neutral third party. The certification forvalidation of charity can be in the form of PKI, or certificate withpublic/private keys, to make sure the money or correspondences arecoming or going to the right place or account. In one embodiment, wehave piggy bank for each consumer, so that they can accumulate for laterfor a specific charity or above a threshold amount, for grant of themoney to happen. In one embodiment, we have tax break for the business(that gives to charity), as well as goodwill for customer, plus moresales through public, as an edge in the marketing.

In one embodiment, we have the customer/consumer as a member of Sparo(or charity network or portal or central or HQ), with piggy bank accountand other relations built up. In one embodiment, we have the consumer asa non-member, for one-time use, or with no permanent record, with nopiggy bank account. In one embodiment, we have the customer signed upwith personal data, or using FACEBOOK or GOOGLE accounts, to transferinformation. In one embodiment, we have the GPS location data for useror her device, for locating the user and for finding the location of thenearby charities, or using telephone number, address, zip code, history,personal information, using dialog box, or email address or server, forlocating the user.

In one embodiment, we have the total transaction numbers and dollarvalues for a user, a charity, a store, or combination of store giving tocharity, or person to charity, or store selling to a person, or anycombination of the above, or average or statistics or history of theabove, recorded, stored, or presented, to any or all parties, perrequest or query or based on the display on computer, for the accountholder to visit and review or print for various purposes, e.g., for taxdeduction purposes, as donations. In one embodiment, we have the usersending the gifts or donation amounts as a pride or encouragement, tofriends or family, e.g. by email, text, or post on/using TWITTER orFACEBOOK, by the user or automatically generated and sent by our website.

In one embodiment, we have various level of pride levels or scores beinggenerated, e.g., based on numbers, points, color codes, or stars shownon the person's account or FACEBOOK or other social sites, to signifythe amount a person donated or gave through stores, so far, as a way toencourage more giving. For example, we can have GOLD CLUB member orSILVER CLUB member, or level 34 donor, to show the amount or frequencyor average or maximum or the last time a person donated, on computermonitor or listing, or as heroes on the web site, or as a graph or bardiagram or sliding bar, to advertise and encourage and promote for gooddeed.

In one embodiment, we have anonymous donor, so that there is no recordof anything, if the user chooses so. In one embodiment, we have uniqueID for a customer.

In one embodiment, we have multiple causes for distribution, e.g.,student fellowship, single mothers, flood victims, and the like, so thatthey can register, and get verified by authorities or certified, so thatrandomly, or lottery, or based on FIFO/order of request, or based onpriority of severity of situation for each case, one can get funded. Theverification can be manual/by fax/telephone/email, or automatic throughcomputers e.g. using forms on line by FEMA or other government agencies,or by social workers, or by offices qualified for such certificationsand authentications, generating such certificates automatically, andtransmitting to Sparo, for our processing the requests, to fund thepeople or groups or causes.

In one embodiment, we have updates for criteria for each cause, e.g.student scholarship threshold or approved schools or majors or familystatus or situation or income or need, which can be changed for futureevaluations and decisions, after e.g. the new threshold takes effect,and propagates in the system. In one embodiment, we have updates forenrollments for people coming in and out of the database, e.g. peoplegraduating from college, or entering college, to turn the eligibilityflag on/off, based on the state and status for a person/student, as astudent, to be eligible to receive the fund for scholarship. This willaffect the approval process for the student. So, we can have an activewindow, for periodic check, for these types of parameters, to activelyor based on student mandate, requiring the student, to certify thecontinuity of her status, as eligible to receive funds as a full-timestudent or part-time student.

In one embodiment, we have login allowed from another server, using aphantom session. In one embodiment, the system allows the Sparo logodisplay. In one embodiment, the system does not allow the Sparo logodisplay. In one embodiment, the system allows the merchant or store logodisplay. In one embodiment, the system allows layered tab-like displayfor various charities, in different locations/areas/cities, or fordisplaying different topics/focuses, e.g. environmental causes, mothercauses, children causes, family causes, school causes, and the like. Inone embodiment, the system allows overlap between different topics,e.g., some charities belonging to 2 or more topics, e.g. topics such asmother causes, children causes, family causes, and school causes.

In one embodiment, we have a message at the end, for notification, foruser, for her social network account, for her friends, for herphone/texting, for her regular mail/printout, or for her taxaccountant/IRS, automatically generated/sent. In one embodiment, we havethe user or store or both are capable of adding more cash or merchandiseto the total for charity. In one embodiment, we (our system) havemerchandise or equivalent cash being donated by the store or merchant.In case of objects or merchandise donation, the charity or the thirdparty can convert the object to cash in a middle step, or a 4^(th) partycan get that object in an auction or sales forum, and pay the charity incash, instead, as a single or combination transaction.

In one embodiment, we accept donations in the name of or honor of othersliving or deceased, or friends or family or groups, with notificationsent to designated parties. In one embodiment, we have the total so farfor all charities, or per charity, per store, per person, per group, perclass, per category, per type, per merchandise, per school tuition, perstudent, or the like, for statistics, average, sum, max, min, range,standard deviation, distribution, trend, curve, time variation, mean,and the like, as number or graphic or plot or visual presentation. Inone embodiment, we have a goal, dollar amount for a period, or deadline,also shown on screen, as number, bar, sliding marker, graph, pie chart,percentage, axis, glass shape with liquid in it, or the like, to signifyhow much we are getting closer to the goal.

In one embodiment, we have 3 choices in menu: shop, donate to charity,and put dollar in piggy bank. In different embodiments, we havedifferent order for (1) giving money to charity, (2) signing up (orsign-in), as optional, and (3) purchasing the object, as differentsteps, in various orders, e.g., as: steps: (1-2-3), (1-3-2), (2-1-3),(2-3-1), (3-1-2), and (3-2-1) combinations/sequences. In one embodiment,we have ratings for consumers and ratings for stores and ratings forcharities, based on performances/indexes/numbers/votes byusers/frequency of transactions/number of transactions/averageoverhead/total/mean values/and the like. In one embodiment, we havedifferent badges, colors, stars, heart symbols, or the like, to signifythe achievements so far.

In one embodiment, we can share the story of user or randomly highlightthe best donors, for good will or advertisement, on social sites or onour web site. In one embodiment, we can start a group based on thecharitable causes or people, e.g. “Friends of Charity Q”. In oneembodiment, we can start a portal for small charities that do not haveseparate web sites, or otherwise, like to have another venue to processtheir gifts and donations. In one embodiment, we can have statistics andbehavior or social or economical or mood or direction of people andsociety and politics evaluated or examined, versus time and context andlocation.

In one embodiment, we can have the tuition accumulated and paid aftersome threshold, or based on time period or events or randomly, or basedon rules, or based on need, or based on semester/calendar, orcombination of the above. The payment can be full or partial or onpercentage or based on tuition or fixed or variable or based on formulasor tables or trend or the like. In one embodiment, we can have delay forpayment from the stores, and we also put a margin of time for thereturned merchandise, to offset the total sales for the period. In oneembodiment, we can have the payment done to the charity first, andinvoice the stores later. In one embodiment, we can have the reverse ofthe above, to have the money in hand before paying the charity, as adelay payment schedule.

In one embodiment, we can have a credit card from a bank associated withthe website, so that a percentage goes to charities, with participationof a payment processor. In one embodiment, we can have student tuitiondivided or allocated or specified based on subclasses, e.g. based ongender, major, university, area of the country, ethnicity, age, grades,background, or the like, to focus and help a specific group or subset ofpopulation, who may need the tuition or assistance more than others. Inone embodiment, we can have the badge system, based on milestonesachieved for all parties, e.g. GOLD BADGE, e.g. for weekly goals.

In one embodiment, we can have cookie to track activities and patterns.In one embodiment, we can have various merchants: old relationships,lots of donations, lots of transactions, and the like. In oneembodiment, we have plug-in to overtake the web page, to customize, forthe look and interface. In one embodiment, we have legal agreementsbetween parties on-line, for review and electronic signature, e.g. usingPKI or biometrics or passwords. In one embodiment, we have universitiessign in, or we invite them, based on a student from the schoolrequesting for scholarship, which requires information from school,including verification of the university's identity, secure transmissioncertificate, PKI, name of authority, telephone number of the authorizedperson, methods of secured verifications for university ID, studentID/name, and enrolment/status, as well as tuition and student'sbalance/account status, all done automatically. In one embodiment, wehave the verification of university by a person being done manually,using a computer interface or by phone or email or any communicationmeans.

In one embodiment, we have university accounting department linkingdirectly or communicating directly with our system, so that the fundtransfer is done securely and automatically, with minimum delay. In oneembodiment, we have universities as partners or shareholders in ourcompany, for good will and advertising. In one embodiment, we displaythe awarded students and charities as highlights for advertising on oursite or computer display or marketing material. In one embodiment, wehave grad/undergrad categories, major/field, studentID/name/biometrics/password, and the like, for schoolinterface/questionnaire. In one embodiment, we have student in queue foravailability of funds or getting full amount accumulated for futurepayment or installments. In one embodiment, we have a number assigned toa student for random draw for lottery for award. In one embodiment, wehave tuition awards based on need, verifiable by the school persemester, automatically. In one embodiment, we have one tuition bank. Inone embodiment, we have multiple tuition banks

In one embodiment, we have more weight for students waiting more in thequeue to award, as an adjustment to award faster. In one embodiment, wehave confirmation notice or email to the student, as well as using it asan ad. In one embodiment, we have charity portal with interface forsign-in, sign-up, ID number for charity, upload logo for charity, website link, email, contact info, other info, mission of charity, withtotal, averages, over time performance, subclass break downs on usageand different expenditure on different causes, overhead, salaries, otherexpenses, marketing cost, executive salary and benefits, non-profitstatus, tax-deduction eligibility for donors, IRS validation of status,third party validation of status, total so far, last transaction,pending ones, last month summary, year-to-date, history, trend, sources,stores, and the like.

In one embodiment, we have piggy bank distribution being based on FIFO,proportion to total, need-based, merit-based, student GPA/score based,and the like. In one embodiment, a merchant can have a filter for a listof approved charities, as well as a filter for the consumer, so that the2 filters can work in series, limiting the list even further, as the twoare AND-ed together. In one embodiment, we have a list of approvedsuggested charities for users, if they need, to suggest to them, foreach category, such as environmental causes. In one embodiment, thecause is related to the time of the year, in calendar, such asenvironmental causes for Earth Day, which we can remind the user, onscreen of computer or on her device/mobile phone, with suggestions. Inone embodiment, we (i.e., the system) check for the public databases forverification of charities, e.g., from “Give Well”, plus theirperformance and parameters. In one embodiment, our internal searchengine or filter can filter the charities, e.g. for charities with theiroverhead less than a threshold, which can be filtered and listed inorder of lowest to highest overhead, for the user/consumer. Otherparameters can be used for limiting the search result for the charities,such as topic or geographical areas. In one embodiment, the system usesa rules-engine for that purpose, with If-Then rules for decision making

In one embodiment, the system has a suggestion box for adding charities,or verify charities, by us. In one embodiment, the system approves themerchants, versus a bad-actor list, to filter porn sites or similarsites, generated by us or third party, to avoid known bad actors as muchas possible. In one embodiment, the system has templates for smallentities to sign in, so that they do not need their own IT work forinterface. However, for bigger entities, for customization, the systemallows variety or customized look for each entity, with SDK and APIoffered to them. In one embodiment, the system automatically tracks thereturns and subtracts them from the running sum, so that there is nocheating or unfair transaction recorded against anyentity/store/merchant.

In one embodiment, the system processes in batch form for alltransactions, or does it one-by-one as they come. In one embodiment, themerchant has a key or password that changes in time, for securitypurpose. In one embodiment, the system lets the user uses the personalor group login or information from other social web sites, or transferthe information for new account. In one embodiment, the system lets themerchant or user add more cash to the original donation, e.g.,suggesting as rounded number added, or total being a rounded number,e.g. an integer value. In one embodiment, the system lets the usersuggest merchandise, store, charity, or cause to friends, withinvitation or links or interface provided, or the information about thecharity or store attached or linked.

In one embodiment, the system lets the user chooses the charitycontribution after the cart or purchase. In one embodiment, the systemlets the user chooses the charity contribution before the cart orpurchase. In one embodiment, the system lets the user can come andbrowse as guest. In one embodiment, the system lets the user know onscreen, or notify later by email or text or the like, about thetransactions and the contributions and all of their details, forexample, as confirmation or receipt, or for IRS directly, or foraccountant directly, as certificate.

In one embodiment, the system shows the invoice timeline for merchantsas a table, versus time, in 2D, for staggered events happening, forcollection and disbursement of the funds, and when to invoice or collector remind the store to pay, as markers in the timeline, for the table ofevents and accounts. See FIG. 28 for an example, showing differentactions and deadlines for different periods of time, as scheduled in astaggered manner, displayed in the format of FIG. 28, or using a ruleengine to make that automatically executed by computer.

In one embodiment, the system has selection of countries and currenciesor exchange rates, with some designated countries or charities in theforbidden lists, to avoid, for various safety and legal reasons. In oneembodiment, the system has various languages and translations, withlocalization. In one embodiment, the system has grace period forpayments, with contract online for different parties, approved withelectronic signature and verification, e.g. PKI. In one embodiment, thesystem has multiple groups, e.g. merchants, charities, consumers,friends, schools with scholarships, and students applying forscholarships, all registering and involved in this process, benefitingfrom the transactions described here. In one embodiment, the system hasa newsletter for users of all type, or targeted for specific interests.In one embodiment, the system has opt-in/out for the newsletters. In oneembodiment, the system has a poll/survey for the parties.

In one embodiment, the system has a content management system. In oneembodiment, the system shows how many percent of donors donate H percentof the sales, for various H values. In one embodiment, the systemincludes customer name, ID, email ID, charity ID, donations fromcustomer, date, status (paid or pending), and the like. In oneembodiment, the system suggests some value for the donations based onthe income or history or sales price or pattern or average of people orincome bracket or position at work or location in country or season oreconomy or stock index or inflation or past year tax bracket or salary.

In one embodiment, the system collects information about parties, e.g.,verifies the charity, to filter the bad ones, e.g. through GuideStar,publication 78 of IRS, IRS Business Master File, automaticexemption/revocation list, internal revenue bulletin for individualrevocations, reason for non-profit status, eligibility to receive taxdeductible contributions, IRS good standing, and as not-listed by officeof foreign assets control (OFAC), as specially designated national(SND), e.g. engaging in support of terrorism, or as being undersanction. Thus, the bad actors are filtered, periodically or based onevents, leaving the rest as eligible party. In one embodiment, thesystem always checks against the designated lists or databases, beforeany transaction.

In one embodiment, the system checks the performance parameters of thecharities on the known 3^(rd) party sites, as independent evaluation,getting the numbers and use our own formula to come up with Merit Scorefor each charity, e.g. for a higher score, we have one factor being thelowest overhead, or lowest salary, or lowest expenses, or more coverage,or more impact factor, or best match with the user, or best feedback, orlongest time in business, or the like. It also depends on disbursementamount, fundraising budget and effort, andfeedback/complaint/resolution. It can get score using an API from adatabase or another source/application. In one embodiment, the systemshows the ranking based on score, match, relevance, category, geography,and/or preference/causes.

In one embodiment, the system shows the most popular charities orpreferred in each category. In one embodiment, the system divides thefunds equally or based on weighted average or weighted or cycle betweenor based on formula or time table or category or randomly within acategory or class, per person, per class of people, per student, pergroup, per charity, or for all/total, e.g. 30 percent going toenvironmental causes or a specific one, or the first 3000 US$ going toenvironmental causes or a specific one, and the next 2000 US$ to charitynumber 2, and so on. In one embodiment, the fee for tuition bank iscoming from our/Sparo's profit or income, as a percentage or fixedvalue. In one embodiment, the fee for tuition bank is coming directlyfrom the merchant/store, as a separate item, or as a total sum/bundle.

In one embodiment, the system allows the donation of professionalservices, service packages, merchandise, or objects, as non-cash itemsdonated, which can be auctioned or matched to or bought by thirdparties, and the proceedings used in the charities as cash later. Forexample, there may be an offer for coupon or restaurant voucher orupgrade on the seat on airplane or free mileage for doing an action bythe user, which can be donated, based on an exchange of donationsthrough our web site, or liquidation of such offers to cash or cashequivalent, in our “donation-exchange platform” described here.

In one embodiment, the system uses an ID for each charity which changesconstantly, as an index for our own internal table, to match with thename of charity, so that the hackers cannot hijack the name of charityand use that for their financial benefit, because the ID number expiressoon and with no notice, and becomes ineffective, and also indicating ahacker activity or fraud, if detected, with invalid or expired numberlater on.

In one embodiment, the system lets the user access merchants through ourweb site. In one embodiment, the system lets the user get to an agentthrough a merchant/store. The agent provides cash market for the couponor offer for a fee or percentage of the deal. In one embodiment, thesystem uses an agent at the backend of the merchant, with interface doneby merchant, and API to backend. In one embodiment, the merchantprovides the UI or GUI, depending on user's profile and purchasehistory.

In one embodiment, the system uses a plug-in at users' side. In oneembodiment, the system uses codes at the merchant side. In oneembodiment, the system uses a signature or ID to refer to a merchantwebsite. In one embodiment, the system uses a social networking forboosting the participation. In one embodiment, the system uses a returnmerchandise authorization time margin within our invoice delay timeperiod, or fund release, to make sure nobody can cheat the system.

In one embodiment, the system uses a merchant approved list or forbiddenlist or blocked list or priority list for charities, from which it getsfiltered, and the same mechanism can be applied to consumers/users, aswell. For example, after 5000 US$ is given to charity 1 in category 1,then the rest or next 2000 US$ or a percentage goes to charity 2, and soon, based on priority listing. The filters for filtering for each partycan be in series (ANDed together or “multiplied” together, as theINTERSECTION) or in parallel (ORed together or “added” together, as theUNION), in mathematical form or set theory format.

In one embodiment, the system uses tabs for display for stores orcharities for international, national, state, local, and favorite ones.In one embodiment, the system uses acceptance form, for all parties,after their reading the agreement online, with disclaimers, and tax lawsor warnings, plus privacy issues and ethical concerns, to digitally signor accept the agreement, so that the process moves on, for each stage,including, e.g. students, schools, charities, stores, and third parties,e.g. auction houses.

In one embodiment, the system uses an addition based on absolute value,or relative value or percentage or ratio, for added donation at thecheckout, for added value. In one embodiment, the system uses asuggested percentage to donate based on size or revenue or profit ornumber of employees or stores or market cap of the company, or industrytype, or average of industry, or class, or profit margins, or geography,or people, or users, or heuristic, or the like.

In one embodiment, the system invites the charities to sign up, oralternatively, they come and signup at our website, or gets suggested orrecommended by users or members. In one embodiment, the system lets theuser changes percentages of the contributions and divisions betweencharities or schools, based on time table, formula, listing, rules,if-then conditions, schedules, and the like, over time, or for future,and keep the data for reference, if needed. In one embodiment, thesystem uses all the data as marketing for other related purposes, asindividual or aggregated for all or averages.

In one embodiment, the system uses a record of all usages from piggybank to keep track of all distributions to proper charities and schools,for proper receipt generated automatically or upon request for IRS/taxpurposes, e.g. 100 percent compliance with tax codes, or minimum valuefor a specific purpose, or maximum time remaining in piggy bank. Thatis, due to tax codes, for proper year, it has to be spent or releasedfrom the piggy bank. Otherwise (in case of no action by the user), thedefault is to release the fund before deadline for tax purposes, bySparo, automatically before deadline, to a random or listed charities orschools. In one embodiment, the system does not let the fund stay in theaccounts indefinitely, enforcing a known deadline or giving warning touser or forcing a distribution of a fund to charities or schools, if theuser fails to act or respond on time, causing tax violations or legalproblems, which can be avoided by this method, automatically, and alsocertified/sent, accordingly, for IRS or the CPA.

In one embodiment, the system subtracts school funds directly frommerchant contribution. In one embodiment, the system uses our profit orincome as the source of school funds, which has different taxconsequences for the parties involved, as the donor for deductions. Inone embodiment, the system uses multiple charities or school banks orfunds or the like, to stagger over time, and grow together, as shown ondisplay for all parties to see, e.g. using bar diagram or sliding ruler,growing in parallel, e.g. student account growing in value on display.

In one embodiment, the system has multiple consumers, and our web sitesin the middle, connecting to multiple charities and schools, eachwithout or with any filtering on the available choices, or each time canbe chosen by the user, or each time using a predetermined list orpreferences or rules, disbursing the funds e.g. based on FIFO (first infirst out) rule or other methods, and keeping track of all division offunds and allocations, for tax purposes and reports to users or parties,for IRS or tax/government authorities.

In one embodiment, the system uses multiple versions of tuition banks,e.g. local, state, national, international, or favorite, for usage,e.g., per student and per schools. In one embodiment, the system usesthe data for the first-time user or one-time user or un-signed user, ifthe user desires, to merge, add, or accumulate, the contributions orfunds or scores or parameters from multiple accounts of the sameuser/party or one-time usage, into a single account, per user's request,so that the user can get credit for that session. Of course, theidentity of the user is checked with PKI/encryption, keys, passwords,certificates, by a validation authority, and/or biometrics. In oneembodiment, in case of lost signup information by any party, the systemhelps to recover password and other account parameters, if the user canprove the identity in other forms, e.g. by re-emailing a new password tothe original email, using a unique ID for the user's account. In oneembodiment, the system lets user log in or sign up and create a newaccount before or after the donation, and/or before or afterpurchase/transaction.

In one embodiment, the system shows how much in each account isaccumulated, up to now, or in average, or monthly, or weekly. In oneembodiment, the system distinguishes the user as e.g. environmentalist,based on history, to filter and get the related organizations searchedor listed automatically. In one embodiment, the system uses the StateDept. filter for unwanted organizations or countries, to filter out. Inone embodiment, the system rounds up numbers or values, or rounds downfor dollar values, or truncates the numbers to nearest dollar, cent, 10cents, 5 cents, or the like, for ease of use, for individual items orfor totals. In one embodiment, the system uses tel. call or email toverify a university for the first time, or use a 3^(rd) partyorganization. In one embodiment, the system lets the user saveparameters, or use pre-set values, or share with friends, or email ortransfer the data. In one embodiment, the system lets the user usespreference degrees such as high or low, or use numbers such as 10, orpercentage, or binary yes or no, for charities or parameters, or mixtureof the above. In one embodiment, the system uses the local, relative touser location, currently or permanently, as options. In one embodiment,the system uses the list of search parameters as filters, on screen, byuser.

In one embodiment, the system uses multiple items from merchant, e.g.one with deep discount, not eligible for any charity contributions,making it a separate account for tracking, as eligible and not-eligibleitems, as well as an account for returned items, for accountability andsubtractions from total, especially against fraud against the system.

In one embodiment, the system uses a pop-up or regular window for menufor display for parties to choose the options or see the options. In oneembodiment, the system uses this model:

1. Start with the index page

2. Click on “Shopping Bag” on top right

3. Click on Sparo Button

4. In the next popup, choose the store logo

5. Then click on SUBMIT DONATION

6. Click on “Checkout”

7. On the next popup, click either SIGN UP or SIGN IN

8. After “SIGNING UP/IN”, the popup with the Sparo profile opens

9. E.g. $5+$1.78 (Total $6.78) is shown in “Total Donation till dateXXXXX” on Profile page

10. Click FINISH to come back to Homepage

In one embodiment, the system uses best or most popular charities on thetop of the list, as promoted each time for display, for ranking. In oneembodiment, the system uses an event drive for local or nationalcharities with customized page based on API provided, for customizeddisplay, with announcements to people or members of groups or priordonors for the cause, if they did not opt-out for related or generalannouncements. In one embodiment, the funds are actually at the piggybank. In one embodiment, the funds are shown in piggy bank asplaceholders, but are actually at the merchant's possession, which, onceselected, will be transferred directly to charities, as specified.

In one embodiment, the system uses API, with one example shown below.The eCommerce website customers apply the donation to their website. So,we have:

XML API

Create an XML API which at first verifies the Subscription by sendingSubscription Key and Subscribers User Name and a Request Code.

Passing a Request to the Query API

Username: Customers Username for Authentication (Required)

Key: Key generated for the Subscription for Authentication (RequiredVarchar(100))

Transaction_id: Specify a transaction ID (or a comma-separated list oftransaction IDs) to retrieve information only on specifictransaction(s). (Not Required. Only Required if Status ‘Cancelled’ or‘Updated’.)

Charity_list: List of Charity IDs selected from the API

Status: New, Cancelled, Updated (Required)

Reference: Order ID, or Reference ID (Required Varchar(100))

Donation Amount: $Amount Donated (Required 0.00)

Order Amount: $Amount Total (Required 0.00)

Handling Errors

  <?xml version=″1.0″?> <nm_response>  <error_response>InvalidUsername/Key</error_response> </nm_response>

Retrieving a Response from the Query API

<?xml version=″1.0″ encoding=″UTF-8″?> <nm_response>  <transaction>  <transaction_id>10650893</transaction_id> <= For Existing Transactionsand Updates.    <status>New</status>    <reference>1000341</reference>   <charity_list>133,44,52</ charity_list >   <order_amount>500.00</order_amount>    <donation>50.00</donation>   <donation_fee>5.00</donation_fee>  </transaction> <nm_response>

Retrieving a Response from the Query API for Charity Selection/Info

<?xml version=″1.0″ encoding=″UTF-8″?> <nm_response>  <charity>  <charity_id>144</charity_id>   <charity_name> XYZ Inc </charity_name>  <description>New</ description >   <mission>XYZ Inc is a . . . . .publishing </mission>   <programs> PUBLISH . . . . . </programs>  <date_added>2013-02-15T13:05:00</dateadded>  <image>http://www.Sparo.com/Aimages/XYZ.jpg</image>  </charity><nm_response>

In one embodiment, we have Sparo.com High-level Website Overview, asshown below: (Note that Sparo refers to our web site.)

FRONTEND

The Website itself has multiple functions:

1. Login Access for Merchants

-   -   a. Login for Merchants has reporting on Sales and Donations    -   b. Billing and payment history    -   c. Merchant Account Information    -   d. API Documentation and Application Integration Documents

2. Login Access for Charities

-   -   a. Login for Charities has reporting and donations        -   i. Donation is grouped by Merchants    -   b. Donation disbursement history & schedule    -   c. Charity information page and account information

3. Login Access for Sparo Members

-   -   a. Sparo Member account information    -   b. Donations and donation history    -   c. Sparo Program Subscriptions    -   d. Merchant Selection and list of Sponsors

BACKEND

1. Website operations and administration system

-   -   a. Admin access management and permission system    -   b. Automatic notification

2. Charity Management

3. Merchant Management

4. Donation Management

5. Sparo Account Management

6. Full Accounting & Billing Management

API—Application Programming Interface

1. Raw API in XML format for full customization and integration

-   -   a. Allow merchants to implement Sparo completely customizable        only with basic data communication through XML with Sparo        Backend.

2. Built-in API for oCommerce & Magento

-   -   a. Custom add-ons for oCommerce & Magento based eCommerce        platforms

3. Plug & Play JavaScript API Integration

-   -   a. Allow basic JavaScript API integration for easy installation        for small ecommerce websites.

In one embodiment, we have components of a project:

-   -   System Configuration & Setup    -   Magento Framework Setup & Configuration    -   Server Optimization    -   Shopping Cart & eCommerce

Sparo.com—Front-end:

-   -   Website    -   Website Wireframes    -   Website Homepage Wireframe

Merchant Portal:

-   -   Merchant Portal Login Wireframe    -   Forgot Password and Merchant ID Page    -   Forgot Password and Merchant ID Confirmation Page    -   Forgot Password Email Content    -   Sign Up Page    -   Sign Up Confirmation Page    -   Sign Up Confirmation Email Content    -   Homepage Wireframe    -   Account Information    -   Account Information Update Confirmation Email    -   Billing Information    -   Billing History    -   Order/Donations Browse Page    -   Order/Donation Detail Page    -   Order/Donation Cancellation/Returns/Addition Page    -   Order/Donation Cancellation/Returns/Addition Confirmation Page    -   Order/Donation Cancellation/Returns/Addition Confirm Email    -   Order/Donation Modification Page    -   Order/Donation Modification Confirmation Page    -   Order/Donation Modification Confirmation Email    -   Invoice History    -   Invoice Detail    -   Invoice Payment Page    -   Invoice Credit Card Payment Page    -   Invoice Credit Card Payment Confirmation Page    -   Invoice Payment Confirmation Email    -   Invoice Bank Wire Payment Page (ACH)    -   Invoice Bank Wire Payment Confirmation Page (ACH)    -   Merchant Logout Page

Charity Portal:

-   -   Charity Portal Login Wireframe    -   Forgot Password/Charity ID Page    -   Forgot Password/Charity ID Confirmation Page    -   Forgot Password Email Content    -   Sign Up Page    -   Sign Up Confirmation Page    -   Authorization to set-up confirmation email    -   Sign-Up Rejection Email    -   Homepage Wireframe    -   Account Information    -   Account Information Update Confirmation Email    -   Payment Information    -   Payment Update Information    -   Donations Browse Page    -   Donation Detail Page    -   Disbursement History    -   Disbursement Detail    -   Disbursement Email    -   About Charity Page    -   Membership Page(Benefits, Packages)    -   Membership Upgrade/Downgrade Page    -   Membership Update Confirmation Email    -   Membership Credit Card Payment Page    -   Membership Credit Card Payment Confirmation Page    -   Membership Payment Confirmation Email    -   Charity Logout Page

Member Portal:

-   -   Member Portal Login Wireframe    -   Forgot Password Page    -   Forgot Password Confirmation Page    -   Forgot Password Email Content    -   Sign Up Page    -   Sign Up Confirmation Page    -   Homepage Wireframe    -   Account Information    -   Account Information Update Confirmation Email    -   Shopping on Sparo Merchant Sites directed from Sparo.com    -   Payment Information    -   Email confirmation for direct donation    -   Payment Update Information    -   Donations Browse Page    -   Donation Detail Page    -   Donate Page    -   Charity Search Page    -   Charity Selection Page    -   Credit Card Payment Page    -   Credit Card Payment Confirmation Page    -   Member Logout Page    -   Piggy Bank Homepage    -   Piggy Bank Deposit/Donation History    -   Piggy Bank Add Donation    -   Use Piggy Bank Money    -   Piggy Bank Donation Page/Charity Selection    -   Piggy Bank Donation Confirmation Page    -   Piggy Bank Donation Email Confirmation    -   Programs Homepage(Student Tuition Application)        -   Program Search Page        -   Program Selection & Detail page        -   Program Sign up page        -   Program Confirmation page        -   Program Email Confirmation        -   Program—Registered Page or Status        -   Program “Winner” Page        -   Program “Winner” Email Notification        -   Program Winner Acceptance        -   Tuition Electronic Forms

Sparo.com Backend:

Dashboard:

-   -   Chart & Table Coding    -   Design & Wireframe    -   Chart & Table Update Merchant    -   Chart & Table Update Charity    -   Chart & Table Update Member

User Management:

-   -   Content & Pages    -   Design    -   Reports    -   Piggy Bank    -   Piggy Bank Deposit & History    -   Account Management    -   Account Information Detail    -   Payment Information    -   Program Management (Student Tuition Program)        -   Program Search Page        -   Program New/Modify        -   Program Automatic Member Selection        -   Program Automatic Member Notification        -   Program Selection Approval        -   Program Selection History

User Group Management:

-   -   Member Conditions    -   Charity Conditions    -   Merchant Conditions    -   User Group Exceptions    -   User Group Notifications

Charity Management:

-   -   Charity Setup    -   Charity Account Modification    -   Charity Notifications    -   Merchant Orders & Donation Management (CRM)    -   Order/Donations Management    -   Order/Donation to Member Modifications    -   Order/Donation to Charity Modifications    -   Charity Disbursement Management    -   Charity Account Report & Consolidation    -   Charity Donation Modification & Adjustments

Merchant Invoicing & Consolidation

Newsletter Management

Subscription Management

Customer Subscriptions Management

Product & Catalog Management

Content Management System

Sparo—APIs:

-   -   Javascript Based API        -   Member Sign In Modification        -   Piggy Bank Selection Modification    -   XML API        -   Member Information Collection    -   Magento Addon        -   Member Sign In Modification        -   Piggy Bank Selection Modification        -   Backend Function Modification    -   OsCommerce        -   Member Sign In Modification        -   Piggy Bank Selection Modification        -   Backend Function Modifications

Analytics & Search Engine Optimization:

-   -   Analytics & Website Add-ons    -   Charity Website Modifications    -   Members Website Modifications    -   On-Page Search Engine Optimization    -   Prototype    -   Merchant API Interface

Security/Scalability Testing & Updates:

-   -   Front-End    -   Back-End    -   API    -   Testing        -   Front-End        -   Back-End        -   API    -   Charity & Member Add-on

In one embodiment, the invoice is billed every 30 days.

-   -   Given 30 Days to pay Invoice before incurring interest    -   Given 60 Days since last invoice billed to report returns, to be        reflected as credits on the next invoice. However, merchants        report returns as often as they like before this period (they        can do it in bulk or report as they go).

In other words, revenue from total transactions in a given month willnot be considered finalized and secured until 60 days after the givenmonth.

In one embodiment, Sparo works as follows:

1. Online shoppers go to the check out cart

2. Sparo application prompts donations

3. From our list of enrolled charities, shoppers decide which charitieswill receive the donations

4. Retailers make the requested donations with no cost to shoppers ornonprofits

5. Shoppers repeat the above, as a loop, millions of times a year

Here are some examples of the systems, methods, and apparatuses for ourinventions:

Example 1 See FIG. 25 a

A method of distribution of charity funding, with:

-   -   a computer receiving an order for a merchandise;    -   said computer getting a value for said merchandise from a price        database;    -   associating a donation value to said merchandise;    -   assigning a forbidden charity list in a forbidden charity        database;    -   said forbidden charity database sending said forbidden charity        list to said computer;    -   said computer receiving a list of charities from a first charity        database;    -   said computer reviewing a first charity from said list of        charities;    -   if said first charity belongs to said forbidden charity list,        then deleting said first charity from said list of charities to        produce a modified charity list;    -   receiving said value for said merchandise;    -   receiving said donation value in to a first account;    -   said computer selecting one or more second charities from said        modified charity list;    -   receiving a distribution preference list or rule from a        distribution preference list or rule database;    -   a charity allocation computing processor dividing said donation        value from said first account between said one or more second        charities according to said distribution preference list or        rule;    -   with option of:    -   assigning a score for said one or more second charities.    -   assigning a score for said list of charities.    -   assigning a score based on geographical data.    -   assigning a score based on charity overhead.    -   assigning a score based on charity total salaries.    -   assigning a score based on charity average salaries.    -   assigning a score based on charity operating expenses.    -   assigning a score based on charity cause.    -   assigning a score based on people's vote.    -   assigning a score based on consumers' feedback.    -   using a score to modify said distribution preference list or        rule.    -   using a score to display charities.    -   using a score to order said list of charities.    -   receiving a score from a third party or government entity.    -   certifying a score by a third party or government entity.    -   authenticating a charity by a third party or government entity.    -   authenticating a charity for tax purposes or rules.    -   said donation value is based on a percentage or ratio.    -   said donation value is expressed as a fixed dollar or currency        value.

Example 2 See FIG. 25 b

A method of distribution of charity funding for school scholarship,with:

-   -   a computer receiving an order for a merchandise;    -   said computer getting a value for said merchandise from a price        database;    -   associating a donation value to said merchandise;    -   receiving a student request for a first scholarship from        multiple scholarship funds for a school through a computer        interface;    -   receiving information about said student through said computer        interface;    -   receiving information about said school through said computer        interface;    -   authenticating said school directly through a school server or        through a third party organization server;    -   initiating a secure communication to said school server;    -   authenticating said student through said school server;    -   receiving status of said student from said school server;    -   said computer determining eligibility of said student based on        said status of said student and said authentication step for        said student through said school server;    -   said computer allocating a portion of said donation value to        said multiple scholarship funds;    -   if said computer determines that said student is eligible for        said first scholarship, then    -   (a) an accounting module allocating fund to said first        scholarship in said multiple scholarship funds, and    -   (b) if said first scholarship exceeds a first threshold value,        then said accounting module allocating fund equal to a first        accumulated value to said school's bank account, from said first        scholarship, on behalf of said student;    -   said computer notifying said student and said school regarding        outcome of said student request for said first scholarship;    -   with option of:    -   allocating funds based on said student's gender.    -   allocating funds based on said student's grades or grade point        average.    -   allocating funds based on parents' income or financial need.    -   allocating funds based on major field of study.    -   allocating funds based on said school's name.    -   allocating funds based on geographical area.    -   allocating funds based on said school's ranking    -   allocating funds based on said school's accreditation.    -   allocating funds based on said student's ethnicity.    -   allocating funds based on said student's total merit score or        ranking in class.    -   using private-public key scheme to authenticate said school.    -   using a certification organization to authenticate said school.    -   using a certification organization to authenticate said student.    -   using a bad actor listing to authenticate said school.    -   using a bad actor listing to authenticate said student.    -   using a credit score to authenticate said student.    -   using a criminal record to authenticate said student.    -   preparing a tax certification for said donation value.    -   sending a tax certification for said donation value to tax        authorities.

Example 3 See FIG. 25 c

A method of distribution of charity funding, with:

-   -   a computer receiving an order for a merchandise;    -   said computer getting a value for said merchandise from a price        database;    -   associating a donation value to said merchandise;    -   a processor module receiving an emergency event charity drive        notice with a first goal amount and a first deadline time        period;    -   said processor module receiving a current calendar date from a        calendar module;    -   said processor module mapping said current calendar date to a        specific event in said calendar module;    -   a monitor device displaying said emergency event charity drive        and said specific event in a suggestion box for an optional        charity list;    -   selecting one or more charities from said suggestion box;    -   adding said one or more charities to said optional charity list;    -   an accounting module receiving said donation value;    -   said accounting module communicating with a charity distribution        rule database;    -   said accounting module allocating portions of said donation        value between charities in said optional charity list, according        to said charity distribution rule database;    -   with option for:    -   said emergency event charity drive notice is related to a        natural disaster, flood, earth quake, or hurricane event.    -   said specific event is Earth's Day.    -   said specific event relates to environmental causes.    -   comparing against a forbidden list of charities.    -   comparing against a forbidden list of countries.    -   using a third party evaluator for charity evaluation, rating, or        score.    -   using government agencies for charity evaluation, rating, or        score.    -   using a template for introducing possible candidate charities.    -   said template is based on user's behavior or history.    -   said template is based on user's profile.    -   said template is based on user's political or social        preferences.    -   said template is based on user's friends' preferences.    -   said template defines different classes of behavior.    -   said template defines different preferences.    -   said template is associated with a class of charities.    -   said template is associated with a group of charities with a        common theme.    -   choosing said possible candidate charities.    -   choosing local charities.    -   filtering bad actors from said possible candidate charities.

Example 4 See FIG. 26

A method of distribution of charity funding, with:

-   -   a computer receiving an order for a merchandise;    -   said computer getting a value for said merchandise from a price        database;    -   associating a first donation value to said merchandise;    -   a processor module receiving said first donation value;    -   associating said first donation value with a first preference        list and a first forbidden list;    -   said processor module receiving a second donation value from a        piggy bank;    -   associating said second donation value with a second preference        list and a second forbidden list;    -   said processor module receiving a third donation value from a        user interface;    -   associating said third donation value with a third preference        list and a third forbidden list;    -   said processor module receiving an original list of charities;    -   an accounting module allocating fund combination of said first        donation value, said second donation value, and said third        donation value, among said original list of charities, with        restrictions imposed by said first forbidden list, said second        forbidden list, and said third forbidden list, and according to        priorities described by said first preference list, said second        preference list, and said third preference list;    -   with option for:    -   said first donation value is associated with a merchant.    -   said third donation value is associated with a consumer.    -   said piggy bank is associated with a consumer.    -   said first preference list has a higher priority than said        second preference list and said third preference list.    -   said second preference list has a higher priority than said        first preference list and said third preference list.    -   said third preference list has a higher priority than said        second preference list and said first preference list.    -   said first preference list has a higher priority than said        second preference list.    -   said second preference list has a higher priority than said        first preference list.    -   said third preference list has a higher priority than said        second preference list.    -   said first forbidden list is a subset of said second forbidden        list.    -   said third forbidden list is a subset of said first forbidden        list.    -   said first forbidden list is same as said second forbidden list.    -   said third forbidden list is same as said first forbidden list.    -   said first forbidden list is different from said second        forbidden list.    -   said third forbidden list is different from said first forbidden        list.    -   said first forbidden list overlaps said second forbidden list.    -   said third forbidden list overlaps said first forbidden list.    -   using a default forbidden list.    -   notifying all parties involved regarding outcome of said        allocation step for said fund combination.

Here are general setups for our system, method, or apparatus, asexamples:

A computer program or collection of programs comprisingcomputer-executable instructions according to embodiments of thedonation agent described herein can be stored and transported onmachine-readable media such as magnetic tape, floppy disk, CD-ROM andfixed disk. The computer instructions can be retrieved from themachine-readable media using a suitable reading device into a memory andexecuted by a processor. The computer-executable instructions can bedistributed across a plurality of media, such as on physically separatestorage devices respectively associated with physically separatecomputer systems that can communicate via a network. The functionalitydisclosed hereinabove for performing the embodiments may find specificimplementations in a variety of forms, which are considered to be withinthe abilities of a programmer of ordinary skill in the art after havingreviewed the disclosure.

A suitable environment for implementing various aspects of the subjectmatter described herein includes a computer. The computer includes aprocessing unit, a system memory, a codec, and a system bus. The systembus couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory to the processing unit. The processing unit can be any of variousavailable processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessorarchitectures can also be employed as the processing unit.

The system bus can be any of several types of bus structure(s) includingthe memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus,and/or a local bus using any variety of available bus architecturesincluding, but not limited to, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA),Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA (EISA), Intelligent DriveElectronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), AdvancedGraphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory Card InternationalAssociation bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 664), and Small ComputerSystems Interface (SCSI).

The system memory includes volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Thebasic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines totransfer information between elements within the computer, such asduring start-up, is stored in non-volatile memory. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, non-volatile memory can include readonly memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmableROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory includes random access memory (RAM), which actsas external cache memory. According to present aspects, the volatilememory may store the write operation retry logic and the like. By way ofillustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such asstatic RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), doubledata rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), and enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM).

Computer may also include removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatilecomputer storage media. It also includes, for example, a disk storage,which includes, but is not limited to, devices like a magnetic diskdrive, solid state disk (SSD) floppy disk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive,Zip drive, LS-60 drive, flash memory card, or memory stick. In addition,disk storage can include storage media separately or in combination withother storage media including, but not limited to, an optical disk drivesuch as a compact disk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-RDrive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile diskROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitate connection of the disk storage to thesystem bus, a removable or non-removable interface is typically used.

Note that the software that acts as an intermediary between users andthe basic computer resources is positioned in the suitable operatingenvironment. Such software includes an operating system, which can bestored on disk storage, acts to control and allocate resources of thecomputer. Applications take advantage of the management of resources byoperating system through program modules, and program data, such as theboot/shutdown transaction table and the like, stored either in systemmemory or on disk storage. Note that the subject matter described hereincan be implemented with various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer through inputdevice(s). Input devices include, but are not limited to, a pointingdevice such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard,microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card,digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. Theseand other input devices connect to the processing unit through thesystem bus via interface port(s). Interface port(s) include, forexample, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a universalserial bus (USB). Output device(s) use some of the same type of ports asinput device(s). Thus, for example, a USB port may be used to provideinput to computer, and to output information from computer to an outputdevice. There are some output devices like monitors, speakers, andprinters, among other output devices, which require special adapters.The output adapter includes, by way of illustration and not limitation,video and sound cards that provide a means of connection between theoutput device and the system bus. It should be noted that other devicesand/or systems of devices provide both input and output capabilitiessuch as remote computer(s).

Computer can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s).The remote computer(s) can be a personal computer, a server, a router, anetwork PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, a peerdevice, a smart phone, a tablet, or other network node, and typicallyincludes many of the elements described relative to computer. Remotecomputer(s) is logically connected to computer through a networkinterface and then connected via communication connection(s). Networkinterface encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networks suchas local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN) and cellularnetworks. LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface(FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ringand the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to,point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packetswitching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) refers to the hardware/software employed toconnect the network interface to the system bus. The hardware/softwarenecessary for connection to the network interface includes, forexemplary purposes only, internal and external technologies such as,modems including regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSLmodems, ISDN adapters, and wired and wireless Ethernet cards, hubs, androuters.

The system, e.g., includes one or more client(s), which can include anapplication or a system that accesses a service on the server(s). Theclient(s) can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes,computing devices). The client(s) can house cookie(s), metadata and/orassociated contextual information by employing the specification, forexample.

The system also includes one or more server(s). The server(s) can alsobe hardware or hardware in combination with software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The servers can house threads to perform,for example, interest point detection, distorting, merging, pruning,mixing, fingerprint generation, matching score generation, orfingerprint comparisons in accordance with the subject disclosure. Onepossible communication between a client and a server can be in the formof a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computerprocesses where the data packet contains, for example, an audio sample.The data packet can include a cookie and/or associated contextualinformation, for example. The system includes a communication framework(e.g., a global communication network such as the Internet) that can beemployed to facilitate communications between the client(s) and theserver(s).

Communications can be facilitated via a wired (including optical fiber)and/or wireless technology. The client(s) are operatively connected toone or more client data store(s) that can be employed to storeinformation local to the client(s) (e.g., cookie(s) and/or associatedcontextual information). Similarly, the server(s) are operativelyconnected to one or more server data store(s) that can be employed tostore information local to the servers.

This may also be practiced in distributed computing environments wherecertain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules can be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

The systems and processes described herein can be embodied withinhardware, such as a single integrated circuit (IC) chip, multiple ICs,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. Further,the order in which some or all of the process blocks appear in eachprocess should not be deemed limiting. Rather, it should be understoodthat some of the process blocks can be executed in a variety of ordersthat are not all of which may be explicitly illustrated herein.

Any variations of the above teaching are also intended to be covered bythis patent application.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of distribution of charity fundingbased on tax rules for a merchant, said method comprising: receiving, bya computer, an order by a user for a merchandise from a merchant site;obtaining, by said computer, a price for said merchandise from a pricedatabase; associating, by said computer, a donation value to saidordered merchandise, wherein an authentication module runs on saidcomputer; receiving, by said computer, said donation value into a firstaccount; receiving, by said computer, a tax deadline date based on saidtax rules applicable to said merchant; receiving, by said computer, apreference list; receiving, by said computer, a forbidden list;selecting, by a donation agent running on said computer, a first charityfrom a list of charities, wherein said list of charities includes saidpreference list and excludes said forbidden list; performing, by saidcomputer, cross-domain scripting for said merchant site, wherein a firstdomain corresponds to said selected first charity; creating, by saidcomputer, a file including script elements for said merchant site;obtaining, by said computer, a source of said script elements from saidmerchant site and writing said source of said script elements into asecond domain via web services and dynamic script tags; dynamicallycreating, by said computer, a script tag and writing said script taginto said second domain, wherein said source of said script elements isexecuted by said authentication module; referencing and comparing, bysaid authentication module, said script tag against a remote scriptsource for verification purposes; and upon verification by saidauthentication module, allocating and releasing, by said computer, afirst portion of said donation value from said first account to saidfirst charity on said tax deadline date.
 2. The method of distributionof charity funding based on said tax rules for said merchant as recitedin claim 1, wherein a piggy bank is associated with said user.
 3. Themethod of distribution of charity funding based on said tax rules forsaid merchant as recited in claim 1, said method further comprises:notifying all parties involved regarding an outcome of said allocatingand releasing step.